Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Week 4: Use of an Informal Formative Assessment
Use one of the informal formative assessments that we learned about in class (or adapt it) with a student you are working with. Report what you did, what feedback you gave to the student, and how it went. Did the informal formative assessment help you to see where the student needed work or help? Did the student improve because of the feedback you gave? Respond to 2 Fellows' posts.
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They worked! Today I decided to take a different approach than taking out a bunch of papers on putting them on the table with a "This is what we're learning today!" Instead I threw one paper on the table:
ReplyDeleteOn it I had a large circle drawn and divided it into four equal quadrants. 1. Vocabulary 2. Graphs 3. Reading and 4. ? (give them the chance to choose their topic). I 'stole' a paperclip from Paula (sorry Paula), put a pen in the center of the circle with the clip around it and asked my student to give it a flick. It landed on vocabulary (her least favorite choice), but at least this time I didn't choose it.
I got the other student to take out his LINCS cards and they took turns giving each other clues and trying to guess the word. It went surprisingly well, and if they got stuck they could give each other more detailed clues using the reminding words or stories. I would say that these combined were a great success.
That is very exciting, Vlad! Just some simple (low-tech) ideas, but the novelty is probably what is appealing to them. Thanks for reporting this - you made my Thursday!
ReplyDeleteJacque
I decided to use synectics as the informal formative assessment. However, instead of having the student pick 4 random words or ideas to associate the phrase with, I chose them instead because I wanted a more direct association to see if the tutee can apply the concept of learning strategies to the bigger picture of what we are trying to accomplish since he/she needs a good foundation or reason to be motivated to learn and continue to learn these strategies. Also, my student will be absent on Tuesday, and we don't tutor on Wednesday, so I am hoping that I can use this assessment tool on someone else's student for a brief time. Anyway, my sentence begins with, "Strategies for learning or taking tests are like...
ReplyDeletea pair of eyeglasses because
a set of keys because
a neon sign because
stepping stones because
I am hoping that they apply the eyeglasses to taking a closer look at vocabulary words, key words, or instructions carefully such as in the PASS strategy; keys to opening doors to learning in other courses and/or success in school and beyond in general, or even the rectognition of key words as mentioned above; a neon sign to remind them of using mnemonics (such as LINCS) to help with memorization; and stepping stones to becoming good, efficient learners that will lead to future success.
Thanks to Novel, I was able to practice the informal assessment on his two students. He was concerned that one of the tutees may have difficulty making the connections and suggested I do a practice one with them first. I did a simple one with them; A blanket is like...the sun because, blindness because, a parent because, and a sheep because. They made the connections easily, and I honestly thought that they would breeze through the second one as well. However, when I explained the second one in the context of the work they have been doing with their tutor and its application, one of the students was struggling with the connections as Novel warned might be the case. The other student made the connections easily, with responses consisting of: Strategies for learning or taking tests are like...a pair of eyeglasses because can be a whole new way of seeing things; a set of keys because there's a key for every door; a neon sign because they are easy to spot; and stepping stones because you have to take it one step at a time. These were good thoughts. I tried explaining some of the ways a person could go in thought to the student having difficulty, but there still seemed to be confusion in understanding my explanations or reasoning behind the connections. A bit of a language barrier as Novel suggested could be a problem, or a matter of a bit of anxiety and afraid of being on the wrong track that interfered with the ability since it was more like "real" work and being assessed? The feedback was the successful student along with myself trying to help make the connections. It is possible the second informal assessment was more easily done by the successful student due to the practice and feedback (telling them they did an excellent job)with the practice assessment. But I can't say that the other student improved based on my feedback from the practice assessment. Two completely different outcomes! So in response to whether or not I saw if the student improved based on my feedback was a possible yes and a possible no. And regarding if it showed me where a student needs more work--yes, but I am not exactly sure why since the first assessment was successful, unless it is related to the possible reasons mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteVlad, it's interesting to see that there was a difference just based on the fact that you didn't choose the area of study. Glad it went well for you. It supports the idea of what we learned in Paula's class about students' being able to have a choice making a difference in their motivation. I wish that I could have seen a diffinitive difference in the choice of informal assessment I chose, but I'm not so sure. Congrats!
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ReplyDeleteAlthough I was not around last week to try this strategy with my student, Vlad told me that he made use of quadrants with my student which he divided into : graphs, Reading, vocabulary, etc. Vlad told me that the strategy went pretty well and my student and his student did a good job of trying to guess the clues.
ReplyDeleteToday, I tried the strategy of using alphabets ( A,B,C and so on) and I asked my student to use those alphabets and list all the words/vocabularies we have done. I was surprised to see that the strategy worked pretty well; he was able to connect the alphabets with words on his flashcards.
Tammy, your synectics idea sounds great. I would really like to incorporate that one into my teaching of any subject. I could see that anxiety issue coming up though in students who are used to being critiqued on formative assessments. I'm glad you pointed out the difference between the practice trial and the actual one using their 'learned' material. Funny how that switch turns on (or off I guess) when they feel as if they are doing 'real' work.
ReplyDeleteMaybe our goal is to keep the activities looking like a game so that the students do not have to realize that they are learning. For some it seems that that realization is allmit takes for them to shut-off from the material.
Re:Vlad
ReplyDeleteVlad my student said that he did enjoy the strategy you used last week; I do believe it was very effective because it made him to think and also to link the clues to his previous word bank.
The alphabet strategy is great if your student is familiar with his words (or possibly can't recall only a few). It seems to make it a personal challenge to remember one word for each letter and forces them to re-familiarize themselves with what they've learned. Good to hear that it worked Toby.
ReplyDeleteRe: Tammy
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tammy that giving students choice is a powerful motivation on it's own because it feels like you are giving them ownership; I have also realized that students are also motivated to learn when you are flexible with them instead of the traditional norm of been rigid.
Re:Vlad
ReplyDeleteYes Vlad, it is indeed a great challenge when the student doesn't know their vocabulary but that is also the aim of the alphabet technique; I do think the alphabet style of technique is designed to keep the student actively involved in the process of trying to remember the vocabulary they have learned and like you mentioned it will be personally difficult for the student when they can't remember or are not familiar with their word bank.
I think that the techniques that comes nearest to how I am working with my student wold be pre- assesment and post assesment. When he comes into our session, after the intial quiz time, we have been spending time on going over the vocabulary in an ACT test booklet. My student is an exchange student from Mexico, who has a fairly good grasp of English, but when we started having him do the problems in the ACT booklet, we discvered that there were workd he didn't understand. These are for the most part, words that many people do not use today, and may not even be used in current books and authors. Because of this "hiccup" in our session, I had to re-vamp how we were proceeding in our tutoring sessions. Instead of sticking with the vocabulary words that we got at the beginning of class, I have him read sections of the ACT booklet, and then circle words he doesn't quite understand. Then I take those words, and give them to him at his next tutoring session, with the definition. While we are in the sessions, and going over the words that he circled, I also try and give him a definition, to see if he can make a connection. I have asked him several times if he thinks that this method is helping him, to see if he understands why I changed the tutoring sessions. So far he likes it, and he always seems happy that he is learning new words. He also is trying to understand themwhile I am defining them for him. It is funny when I try to define them, as I sometimes give definitions with other words he desn't know, and I can see in his face he still has no clue, so then we hit the IPad and look up definitions, (or in the case of flowers images of what that flower looks like). I like this feedback and feel that if I had just continued with how we were going that I would not be doing him any favors, because if he can't understand key words in the text, then he will not be able to pass some of the sections, and he really is motivated to pass the ACT because he wants to come here to the US to go to college.
ReplyDeleteVlad,
ReplyDeleteThat is an assume accomplishment! I know that many have been having "fun" trying to motivate these students, and sometimes the frustration of what we are doing can really get to us...and make us wonder if we are doing anything! Giving your student the option for input into the tutoring session, I think, gives her more motivation to contribute and care about the session. I think the "low-tech" method was great, but I wonder if the bigger picture is that you gave her options, and she had to contribute, which may make her more motivated to participate. This really reminds me of what I have gotten the most out of Jaque's class, that giving students the ability to input into their learning sessions can be a huge leap forward. I would really like to hear more about how changing the sessions, to see if she retains more of the information, and continues to have a change in attitude towards the tutoring sessions.
Tammy,
ReplyDeleteI like the informal feedback, and trying to make connections from concepts/methods to ideas and concepts that they having an understanding about/for. Bringing common place items into the lesson, and then making the connection between them and the new concepts is a great way to give them a grasp of what they are trying to learn. I also think just taking the time out, so see where they are in the concepts, is needed on our part, because the students aren't likely to actually tell you they don't understand something, they don't want to appear "stupid", especially when they see others around them seeming to understand. (I am not saying that they are stupid, I just remember when I was back in school, and I didn't get a lesson/concept I never wanted to appear like I didn't understand, and I think that many adolescents go through this, and they are less likely to speak up about it, as they see their clasmates seem to get the concept, and they the students may think there is something wrong with them, and they don't want to announce it). Learning to get that feedback, and then modifying the "lesson", I believe is going to be one of the main ideas that I get out of this course. The types of assesments we are learning are tools for us to be able to do those assesments, and help us to be better educators to our students. I hope that you get the chance to see the "lightbulb" go off in yoru student, the time that they completely understand the concept. It may not be the first time you teach them, or even the second....but if you keep trying to modify and find the connection that makes them "see", the lightbulb will finally go off...and you will understand that you have made a difference. Keep up the good work!!!
Vlad- I really appreciate your story. I know that you have had struggles with having your student participate in the tutoring session. I know that she closes up when you give her new vocabulary and I am so pleased to hear that this worked for you. When the student feels that their opinions are important or know what the objective is, they are more inclined to want to participate. I am impressed with how you have been working with her and that this activity seemed to engage her.
ReplyDeleteToby,
ReplyDeleteGreat comment on Tammy's post....as I said earlier to me this is the one of the huge concepts that I have gotten from Jacque's class. From the grad school teaching, and tutoring that I did in the past, I think that I used some of these techniques, but seeing the studies and video, and hearing it in the class, it has made me more aware that this feedback technique and giving the students ownership of their learning is more beneficial than I realized.
Virginia,
ReplyDeleteI have encountered the same problem: there is often a word or two in a definition that the student doesn't understand, therefore, she cannot get a full understanding for the vocabulary word. There are so many little things that we initially fail to consider, and sometimes we may not learn what those gliches are unless we really try to dig deep to figure out where the mental or learning blocks are coming from. This is why, in my opinion, several different types of assessment are necessary. I think an important informal and formal assessment is simply the act of communication. On many of the informal assessments we can see that students may not be grasping material, but we do not necessarily see why they aren't grasping it. Sometimes asking a series of questions based on each answer given by a student can weed out the culprit, whereas one written or oral question and response just isn't enough.
Ok, I am convinced. Toby and Anne's responses about how the alphabet list had their students recall vocabulary words they haven't worked with in a while convinced me that this would be a good pre-step this Thursday or Friday to the beginning of studying the vocab for their final on Monday.
ReplyDelete680
ReplyDeleteOn Thursday I had the students each take twenty vocabulary words and place them on 3 by 5 index cards, the cards had the word on top and a few bullet points under of the main idea of the definition. Then the girls Took turns say, only the bullet points, to try and get the other to say the word.
Once that was complete I asked, "is there any thing you want to add to any of the cards?". After they added a few things to different cards we did the drill again. This time i informed them that they got through the cards in 6 minutes and to try and beat the time from before. They got through the stack in 2 minutes and 45 seconds.
I kind of used the quick write/draw method. I realize that they had just practiced the words so they would do better anyway, but they cut their time by more than half. It seemed like they had a better understanding of the words. It was also a game which they seemed to be more into then the previous stuff we did. That is the way that I assigned the homework for them again today. Is that going to be an issue? What I mean is will the novelty wear off, is that a better technique for review?
I used a version of the Taboo game that we played later in the class, I don't remember the name though.
The feedback is the girls had fun, they had to pick the main ideas of the definition, and it got them to review their cards. They said they liked it too.
To all the people that used the alphabet strategy.
ReplyDeleteI kind of blew that one off, I thought there were some other strategies that would work better. Maybe because we used it to guess at things, "what is teaching to you". I like that you used it to get specific answers, not twist words to fit the letter you were looking for.
Yes Tammy. That is going to be how I am going to get the girls to review for the final. I assign new words to put on cards and have them redo old words. Buy Friday we will have 60 words on cards ready for the review game. Then we will see what happens on Monday?
ReplyDeleteTammy-I really like your idea of using synectics because it has the students make conclusions about what they see and how they interpret different words and processes. I really like that type of assessment because it is creative and has the students make correlations between two unrelated subjects. It is also encouraging to hear how well one student took it. To see students make connections is such an important part of the learning process.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the student who struggled with the activity was intimidated by having to make connections with terms that were already difficult because of the second language. I would not be discouraged and would try it again with simple words or subjects. Perhaps she needed more practice and tutoring on the assessment style before she felt comfortable enough to do it.
I tried out the alphabet strategy on my student. I was thrilled with how the activity went. First of all, he was positive about trying this new assessment and was willing to work on it. He even said that he wished that he could do this type of activity more often in his classes and that he could see the applicability of the activity to other subjects other than vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteThe activity started with both of us working on the alphabet and coming up with a vocabulary word for each letter by ourselves. Then we came together to see what we had for each letter. After going through and sharing vocabulary words and writing the ones that we had missed, we went through each vocabulary word that was listed on the sheet and came up with the definition. He missed around 3 out of around 20 words, which I thought was a pretty good showing.
This activity was good because it increased the morale of my student and showed him that he had in fact remembered a lot of what he had learned. I think it is so important that students know exactly how well they are doing and have a target or goal in mind for what they need to improve.
I used the notecard strategy where student 1 describes the word and student 2 has to guess what the word is. It gave me a quick way to confirm that one of them was pretty solid on the material while the other one still needs some work. I think the feedback was useful to both students, but we'll have to see what their scores on the final suggest.
ReplyDeleteNate- I like the idea of using the cards to help them set a goal for speeding through them. That seems like more fun. The goal I had them set was how much improvement they wanted to see on the final, which may not have been as exciting.
ReplyDeleteVirginia- It sounds to me like you're really tailoring your lessons to suit his needs and it's great that he's seeing continuous improvements as far as new vocab words go. Who knows where exposure to dead/dying language would come from otherwise. It also seems like after doing that so much he might get in the habit of looking things up when he stumbles on them. It sounds silly, but that's a big habit to build. Lots of students just stop and run away from a task when they don't know what's going on.
ReplyDeleteI like all of your ideas and think I might try some of them...
ReplyDeleteWith my student I asked him to write a brief journal entry reflecting on what he felt was working for him in the class and what he felt was not working for him. I quickly realized my error when he showed up to class yesterday with one and half sentences… Yes, literally half of a sentence that ended with me curious as to what he was trying to say. I should have been more detailed in what I expected of him, such as a paragraph, 3-5 complete sentences on said reflection mentioned above. Perhaps then he would have completed the assignment. So… my informal formative assessment didn’t go quite the way I had imagined but I am interested in trying the ideas that were suggested by Nate (Zap), Vlad (quadrant), Anne (goals/ alphabet list), and Tammy (synectics).
Nate,
I agree with you that I originally felt there were better strategies to use other than the alphabet one but am interested in using it the way Anne did.
As I believe we all have, I’ve been having my student do journal entries every week. This last time, I had her reflect on how she felt about the class and the material we were covering. I encouraged her to be honest and was surprised at the response I received. After her minimal effort on homework in the last couple weeks, as well as her lack of effort in class and the fact that she did actually fall asleep once, I figured her response would reflect the attitude she has shown thus far. Instead, she responded about how this class has helped her vocabulary and math skills, as well as her test taking approach and study skills. She was glad we had covered some math together, because she felt she really struggled in that area. I felt that she was being at least partially sincere, as she didn’t express any sort of resentment toward me or what we’ve covered. Allowing her to reflect on the class in her journal entry really allowed me a better idea of what’s going through her mind and how she feels. She expresses no interest in her efforts I see, but it seems that she can’t argue that some of what we are covering is useful and maybe even beneficial to her.
ReplyDeleteChristina, It seems we had a similar experience with our journal entry responses. Even though mine had some useful feedback in hers, I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed in that she didn’t write as much as I would have liked. The difference is that I was specific and even wrote down for her to hand write a full page, and she came back with a short, half page response. Even after I pay attention to making the details of assignments clear and understood, I’m still having difficulty getting her to complete any more than half of the assignment.
I do like Vlad’s application of using a spinner to determine what subject would be covered that day. If I had more time with this student I would have liked to try some more of the informal formative assessments the rest of you used, like using a “spinner” of sorts to determine what a lesson was over or which vocab words or math problems would be covered, or testing her ability to fill out the alphabet with words she’s already learned. I initially felt like many of the ideas we discussed in class wouldn’t be applicable to only one student, but I’m seeing that I just wasn’t thinking creatively enough, as many of you had really good turn outs. I think I'm going to try to incorporate something more fun and interactive as a review on Friday.
Although I haven't used any of the techniques we talked about in class last week yet, I have been doing a good amount of informal assessment with my student lately. I feel like he has responded much better to this than the homework and quizzes I was giving him when we first started tutoring. The main thing I've been doing is giving him more of a say in what we do.
ReplyDeleteBecause my student struggles with vocabulary in general, I've been having him pick out words in the ACT passages that he doesn't know. These are the words I'm having him define now, and he has really taken ownership of the process. He is actually eager to find words he is unfamiliar with and ends up having a much better understanding of these words than the ones I had been giving him.
I have also been giving him a choice in what we do everyday. When I ask him what he wants to do, he always wants to work most on what he is struggling with. He seems more focused and willing to stay on task when I let him decide than when I tell him what we're doing.
I am eager to try the ABC vocabulary activity tomorrow. I initially strongly disliked doing it in our own class, but after all the success it has seemed to have in out tutoring, I am willing to give it a try. My student doesn't remember words from weeks past very well, so I am optimistic about this.
Nate, I really liked the idea of doing the quick write/draw activity with your students. It seems like a good way of solidifying their knowledge of the vocab, and I think that using goals is very effective. I was impressed when we all beat our own goals in Jacque's class, and clearly, your students were able to do that as well. I think anytime we can get our students more invested in their own learning, the better off they will be. I'll have to try something like this with my own student.
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that your student seemed sincere in her journal entry. I'm also glad that it seemed like she thought what you were teaching her was useful. While I haven't assigned any journals for my own student that were asking for feedback, he has told me multiple times that the learning techniques were helping him. He too has been open with me about what he is learning, and I think this is very encouraging for us as first time strategic tutors. Maybe we actually are on to something...
The informal formative assessment was helpful for me to see what my tutee has learned and what gaps needed to be revisited. One of the questions was on learning which she did extremely well and had great ideas. The other question was regarding strategy in which she seemed to struggle with it. We have gone over this several times, so I was shocked that she wasn't able to make the connection with that. After my assessment, I went over it again with and encouraged to ask any questions at anytime. That actually worked out pretty good, because normally she says yes and is not understanding the information. She is more involved with her learning which is a great thing to see.
ReplyDeleteVlad,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see that your tutee responded well. I know it's been rough at times, but it sounds like it's going good.
Anne,
ReplyDeleteIts good to see your student setting his own goals and taking the steps he needs to meet those goals. sounds like your doing an excellent good with him. i think he'll take those in life and be able apply them towards many situations and be very successful.
I used the synectics exercise to help my student wrap his head around a very abstract vocabulary word (celestial sphere). I think this approach is too time consuming for typical vocabulary, but it seemed appropriate in this case. I chose four "is like a..." prompts which I hoped would lead him to the important points of the definition. With a good bit of thought he hit on every one of them right on the money. His vocab performance on the final was generally disappointing, but he nailed celestial sphere!
ReplyDeleteRob, I'm jealous of your pair of students now. The note card exercise seems absolutely perfect for handling a large volume of vocabulary. Did they continue to use it, and do you think it ultimately improved their scores?
ReplyDeleteI like all of your ideas and think I might try some of them... I am interested in trying the ideas that were suggested by Nate (Zap), Vlad (quadrant), Anne (goals/ alphabet list), and Tammy (synectics). I’m glad that these worked for you all!
ReplyDeleteNate,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that I originally felt there were better strategies to use other than the alphabet one but am interested in using it the way Anne did.
After giving my student clearer instructions on his reflection journal for what he felt was working and not working for the ACT Prep course, he completed one paragraph. He enjoyed the LINCS strategy and indicated he would continue using this to study for future tests. How ironic because he complained about using this strategy for the first couple of weeks and it was the one that seemed to help him the most. He felt the rest of the strategies were common sense and not helpful. I was unable to try other assessment types as the class ended. I enjoyed receiving his feedback and even though I asked questions throughout the tutoring session I wish we would have had the class on assessments much earlier so I could have applied more of them to gage his understanding level. :-)
ReplyDeleteSteve F., I like how you responded to your student and allowed him to set the direction for your sessions. I can only imagine how much more engaged he is this way. I'm certain you are doing a better job of identifying and filling his knowledge gaps this way. Nice work!
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