There is a positive movement in education to try and move away from the looking at the end product and looking at the process of learning. Every student will have a different process of learning. Self reflection (also known as assessment as learning) is highly important for a student to figure out what worked well in their learning process and what did not. As the new curriculum moves forward with the teacher shifting from the knowledge holder to more of a mentor-ship role, the students ability to focus on how they learn is going to be more important than ever before. With personalized learning there is a huge wealth of information accessible to students on the internet and a teacher will not be able to be a expert in all of it. The role of assessing the final product (assessment of learning) such as quizzes or papers will still have a role but it is going to have less importance in the classroom then it does right now. The teacher will look at the students reflection of their learning and provide feedback on how they could improve their learning (assessment for learning). The benefits of this style of assessment will help students learn how to learn in the best way for them. The new curriculum is a movement to personalize learning we must also value assessment that shows it.
March 15 ,2016
On February 19, 2016 I attended a professional development day up in school district 72 for Carhi and Timberline secondary schools. The information has been floating around in my head for a while and I would like to talk about my experiences. The speaker was Assessment guru, Damien Cooper. Damien talked about assessment in the new curriculum Some important take away points were for me were descriptive feedback is super important, the importance good planning (in particular the UBd unit model), the benefits of a growth mindset and the learning that happens during self and peer assessment.
Quality feedback is important to students because it tells them how to get better. If a mark is just given without any feedback (or meaningless feedback) it does not help the student. I think back to my own schooling career and this really rang true for me. Even at a university level sometimes the quality of feed back was not helpful or not there at all.
Personal growth mindset was super cool. In my practicum in Joe's guitar class the assessment is all based on personal growth of the students. In the class there are players of all different levels and it would be impossible to hold everyone to the same standard so the level of growth is measured and graded. I do not think in many classes (if any) are all the students the same level at anything but we try to mark them like they are all equally talented at all subjects. Damien said when he was teaching in Ontario he was obligated to give summative report cards but he also handed out extra report cards that showed personal growth as a tool to keep students motivated. If a student is bad at a subject tries really hard and only gets a C+ when someone else is really gifted at a subject and put in little effort and gets an A it can be really discouraging.
Planning regular assessments and conversations with the students was a huge part of the presentation. A good way to do this was to plan the unit backwards. Think about the concepts you want the students to know and tasks you want the student to be able to complete at the end of the unit before you plan the unit. This gives lots of opportunity to check for understanding and growth along the way.
The importance of peer and self assessment was huge too because a student learns to self reflect and self regulate their learning through this process. With the new curriculum having a large focus on how to learn rather then content this is extremely important. By getting a students input on how they think they are doing gives them practice in evaluating their own decisions that effected their learning and it adds a sense of accountability to the process if they have to have a conversation with the teacher about it.
March 15 ,2016
On February 19, 2016 I attended a professional development day up in school district 72 for Carhi and Timberline secondary schools. The information has been floating around in my head for a while and I would like to talk about my experiences. The speaker was Assessment guru, Damien Cooper. Damien talked about assessment in the new curriculum Some important take away points were for me were descriptive feedback is super important, the importance good planning (in particular the UBd unit model), the benefits of a growth mindset and the learning that happens during self and peer assessment.
Quality feedback is important to students because it tells them how to get better. If a mark is just given without any feedback (or meaningless feedback) it does not help the student. I think back to my own schooling career and this really rang true for me. Even at a university level sometimes the quality of feed back was not helpful or not there at all.
Personal growth mindset was super cool. In my practicum in Joe's guitar class the assessment is all based on personal growth of the students. In the class there are players of all different levels and it would be impossible to hold everyone to the same standard so the level of growth is measured and graded. I do not think in many classes (if any) are all the students the same level at anything but we try to mark them like they are all equally talented at all subjects. Damien said when he was teaching in Ontario he was obligated to give summative report cards but he also handed out extra report cards that showed personal growth as a tool to keep students motivated. If a student is bad at a subject tries really hard and only gets a C+ when someone else is really gifted at a subject and put in little effort and gets an A it can be really discouraging.
Planning regular assessments and conversations with the students was a huge part of the presentation. A good way to do this was to plan the unit backwards. Think about the concepts you want the students to know and tasks you want the student to be able to complete at the end of the unit before you plan the unit. This gives lots of opportunity to check for understanding and growth along the way.
The importance of peer and self assessment was huge too because a student learns to self reflect and self regulate their learning through this process. With the new curriculum having a large focus on how to learn rather then content this is extremely important. By getting a students input on how they think they are doing gives them practice in evaluating their own decisions that effected their learning and it adds a sense of accountability to the process if they have to have a conversation with the teacher about it.
Learning intentions for Assessment EDTE 613
I can demonstrate an understanding that teacher professionalism is a lifelong process that requires collaboration, reflective practice, and a growth mindset. Aspects of professionalism also include attendance, punctuality, responsibility for learning, inclusive language, ethics and integrity. (TRB 1)
I have made professionalism an important part of my practice. I was always early to school in my program and in practicum, I never missed any classes in practicum, I try to create engaging classes for students with lots of opportunities for feedback, am very careful with my language especially around students and conduct myself in a friendly but professional manner.
I can show how classroom assessment is not an event; it happens in an ongoing fashion and is seamlessly intertwined with instruction. (TRB 5)
Before my last practicum I would have staid I was unsure on this but after having my band class and guitar class I have learned that including descriptive feedback and lots of opportunities for formative assessment are critical for student success. My guitar class at Carihi was a very good opportunity for giving me a chance to practice adding feedback into conversations in a casual way. I saw the benefits of descriptive feedback in the growth of my students.
I can show how assessment practices can help learners understand their own learning by involving them in the assessment process through creating opportunities for them to co-construct criteria and set their own learning goals. (TRB 3,50
During my last practicum self assessment was a big part in both my band class and my guitar class at Carihi, but I feel like I need to find more ways to integrate it into my social studies classroom. I have thought about making a weekly self-reflection journal talking for the students to talk about the learning that happened for them during the week and ways that they can improve it. I am going to include a self assessment element to the oral presentation project that they are going to do.
My action plan is to include students in the formulation of criteria and give them many options to present their learning.
I can use assessment strategies to offer clear expectations (including learning intentions, criteria and exemplars) and formative feedback to support learning. (TRB 4,5)
My supervisor said I had really clear expectations for my class last practicum when I was covering the french revolution. I made them use the Cornell Notes note taking strategy and let them know that my test would be made off of the question on the notes for the week. If they had any uncertainty make sure to ask questions so they would be prepared for the test. At the end of the day they would hand in their notes and I would write feedback on them and hand them back. This next practicum I want to put up the learning intentions on the board for each day so the students are aware of what we will be doing.
I can show how assessment practices can be sensitive to learners’ emotions and motivation, while respecting individual differences and prior knowledge by offering opportunities for learners to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways (TRB 5,6,7)
I offered lots of opportunities in my last practicums (Woodlands and Carihi) for students to show what students know in a variety of formats (classroom discussions, writing letters as a person in the french revolution, drawing pictures) but most of these were for formative assessment. I need more opportunities for kids to show their learning in summative assessment.
My action plan is to give many choice to students through gamification of assignments.
I can show that I am aware of the importance of frequent and effective communication about student achievement between myself and students, parents and administrators. (TRB 4,5)
While I did not have the opportunity to talk about student achievement with parents I definitely talked about student achievement with my students, other teachers and administrators. I feel students have to be proud of their work and if they are doing well and showing growth that that should be talked about so that they can see the growth more clearly.
My action plan is to make my self available to parents to talk about student acheivement.
I can demonstrate that I understand there are multiple external factors that impinge on classroom assessment practices, including parental beliefs, ministry and district policies and societal expectations. (TRB 5)
I am not a huge fan of letter grades for students because it is not about student learning, it is about student ranking. But during my last practicum I had to grade students on a unit test that was going to be used for marks. I can see as the education system is changing as a whole that there will be some push-back against non-letter grade systems because that is what some districts are using and parents and students are not yet used to a non- letter grade system.
I can create and / or choose meaningful, appropriate assessment tools. I can demonstrate various uses of learning progressions such as the BC Performance Standards. (TRB 4,5)
In my practicum at Carihi my guitar class used(and edited) a rubric based on personal growth. It was built out of techniques that guitar players could work on form most of their music careers. Their progress was based on growth from the previous week. The rubric worked well with the classes personalized format and descriptive feedback was given daily. In my band class there was a practice journal that students filled out while they practiced and talked about what they needed help on. Both of these tools helped build an atmosphere of personal growth in my classes. In my socials 9 class I had to build a test and I built it off of the notes students were taking in their
I can articulate and demonstrate that my assessment philosophy and grading policy are focused on supporting students and as such, my summative assessment practices reflect student learning, not behaviour and are consistent with Ministry of Education guidelines.(TRB 5)
As a teacher it is my job to teach and assess what the students have learned. In order to see what they have learned formative assessment mus be integrated into daily lessons. It is my job to assess their learning and not their behavior because behaviour is often a symptom of something else such as boredom or things going on at home. At Woodlands I had a student who had some behavioral problems but was a really smart kid. She did really well on the tests but If she was marked on behavior she would have probably failed the class. Students need to be supported in their learning and part of that is not grading them on behavior but on what they know.