Assessment

Blog post 1

Assessment have come a long way in the educational system, my current beliefs about assessment in the elementary classrooms is that there are a lot more assessment tools that are offered for students compared to the past and that the current assessment strategies provided to the students enable them to grow a lot more compared to the past. More importantly understand how they can improve.

I believe the assessment strategy’s that are taking place in the elementary classrooms help individualize the evaluation process for each student personally. Yes, it involves the teacher to give and overall grade that needs to meet the curriculum standards but also allows the teacher to dig deeper into each students learning abilities and how they process the information giving to them. This would lead to the final step of knowing how the student puts the knowledge onto paper. The teacher would then be able to write notes on a regular basis on what he/she is observing when assessing the students. Things there succeeding on and what still needs to be worked on. I’ve seen my associate teacher use this technique to integrate those notes into the report cards.

I think the way assessment is being used now is focusing on making them a better learner, and not just associating a grade level to their work. It is more focus on participation and seeing the student elaborate on their work. This may be done in group form or one on one with the teacher. By allowing the student to properly communicate his/her information with the help of classroom tools I feel allows for a proper evaluation to be done on a student’s understanding compared to just having them study and sit down for a period of time and write a test. I feel this way because it’s not everybody that feels comfortable answering a test, and some students might be having a hard time concentrating or finding the proper way to express themselves over paper.

Another important aspect to point out to why I feel the assessment strategy’s that are put in place now in elementary schools are  a critical and important step in the process of education for the students, is by assessing the students on a more individual basis and allowing them to participate in different ways to express their knowledge on what they have learned over a period of time can help determine if the students have a learning disability and might possibly need extra attention or help to allow him/her to succeed like the rest of the class.

This is why I tend to like the direction the assessments in elementary schools are heading for the future. If this were the “old story” the teacher would throw information to the students in one way, expecting all the students to learn the same way. Now in the “new story” the way the teacher is teaching the subject is individualized and taught in a way that every student in the classroom can learn at their full potential.

The way the assessing is being done I find is fair and allows the growth mindset to stay in play and allowing the students to express what they have learned in the best way possible for them. By making these anecdotal notes on a continuous basis, it allows you as a teacher to stay connected with the students and assess them in the best way possible.


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Blog post 2

How has growing success impacted my beliefs on assessment

Growing success has impacted my beliefs in a way that it allowed me to realize that when it comes to assessment it really is the process of gathering information that accurately reflects how well a student is doing in the classroom and if he/she is meeting the curriculum expectations.

When I used to think of assessment I used to picture some sort of test or evaluations. Talking about growing success has impacted and changed the way I think of assessment. I now realize that the primary purpose of assessing a student is to improve the student learning. Not to just simply get a grade from the student. The main purpose is improving the students learning and I have learned that this is demonstrated in both assessments for learning and assessment as learning.

I used to think assessment was done in one particular way and that was to look at the final product, however that’s because that’s what I remember from being in school. But there are different ways you can assess a student with the purpose of student learning. You can assess a student throughout lesson units and keep track if the student is demonstrating and understanding, thinking, communication, and application.  To relate this to the final product, my beliefs have changed in a way where I have a deeper understanding of various type of evidence that are used in considering a student’s final grade for a report, keeping into account observations, conversations, and student product (test, exams assignments).

My beliefs have changed overall where I now have a deeper understanding of the process in growing success on assessment and that there are essential steps in assessment for learning and assessment as learning. Us as teachers need to plan assessment and integrate it with instruction, share the learning goals and success criteria with the students, gather information about students learning before, during, and near the end and use assessment to inform instruction, and guide the next steps to help the students grow in their progress towards achieving their learning goals.

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AER Strategy form
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wRX-h8mHypYILBgVkmdS_LKIfEok6jDBDSB3BX6aKcg/edit?usp=sharing

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       Reflection

Identify an assessment resource from your Language or Math course. Which Growing Success policy does it best address? Write 1 paragraph to explain the connection. Post the resource to your Assessment page.

2.     Writing skills checklist Appendix 7-2:  A guide to effective instruction in writing: Kindergarten to grade 3. This is an assessment resource that we discussed in literacy class to keep track of the students writing abilities and skills. It involved writing the students names with characteristic to look for on the side (random letters, high frequency words, spaces, simple sentences, complex sentences etc…). This would address the policy for assessment For learning & As learning. The reason for that is because this type of chart can be used “assessment FOR learning” to seek evidence of the learners writing abilities and skills and the teacher can keep track on where they need to go and how best to get there.

Choose one professional learning goal from your AER Strategy Form that you would want to emphasis during a job interview. Post a rationale for your choice to your 8Y01 Dropbox.

3.     The learning goal I chose is to be able to meet the unique needs of the First Nation, Métis, and Inuit students. The reason I chose this is because I find it important to have a classroom that is inclusive, safe environment, that the students enjoy being there, and feel respected. As a teacher for me to be able to reach out to student I need to know certain details about the student’s life situation or culture for me to be able to be as effective to them as I would be to other students. I also feel it’s important because when a student notices that the teacher is showing interest in wanting to learn about them to help them in there learning it creates a relationship where the student will want to learn more compared to a student who thinks the teacher doesn’t care. This doesn’t just apply to First Nation, Métis, and Inuit students but to every culture that enters my classroom, taking time to show them respect and showing them that I am there to help them succeed, and sometimes a little detail on their life style can allow me to do so.