Now that you have reflected key points from the first 5 chapters of Stiggins, what goals will you have for yourself when it comes to assessment practices in your classroom? How will you use assessment to help your students achieve more?
When I read the 5 chapters in Stiggins, I kept thinking to myself, “What a great idea!” and how I wished I had been given time while I was going through school to self assess. When I went through school, the teacher would give us a test, we would get it back with the numbers right and wrong and told to go home and see which questions we got right and wrong and how we need to improve. There was no place on the test to check if we were unsure or sure about the questions. We also did not have clear targets that were phrased in the “I can” way. We just knew that we had to know certain information and we were going to be tested on it. When tests were given we had no idea what learning target each question represented. Also, if a student did not do well on a test in high school, it was because they did not study or apply themselves. Unfortunately, I rarely saw teachers who were self-assessing themselves and changing assessments based on student comments or performance. During college, I saw professors willing to change their test formats and willing to admit when they would make a mistake but it was still rare that a teacher would change completely how they were going to assess us. One goal that I have is that I will have my students participate during the whole learning process. I really liked when Stiggins wrote about how teachers need to teach students to self-assess and set goals. As a teacher, our responsibility is to hand out our test plan to our students so they can go through each of the learning targets or concepts and decide through some method (sure/unsure, stoplight colors) whether or not they are confident or not confident. I really like the idea of students working with other students to help each other learn the material. I know that some students are more introverted or do not want to help others but in my classroom I would try to make that a priority. Another goal I have for my classroom is that I will always be willing to revise my test methods based on the feedback I get from other teachers and students. I am realizing that teaching is not about being independent all the time but collaborating with other teachers so that the students can be taught and assessed in the best way possible. Lastly, I really like how Stiggins outlined how assessments should be created and the stages of assessment development (Plan, Develop, Critique, Administer, Revise). I am going to try very hard to keep to this model because it is so important.
Elyssa, I like the goals you have set for yourself and classroom and I agree with you in regards to teachers not willing to change their teaching style or that matter the test. A lot of times you have teachers and professors recycle the same couple of test during their time teaching. Then they wonder why the students aren't successful. Teachers need to become learners as well as the students.
My goals are to be able to assess my students in various ways and not just in the traditional format. Like the informal assessments we used in class are excellent ways for me to be able to identify what subject content the students aren’t getting or mastering. This will help me fill in any gaps that are missing for the students and be able to help them make the connections with them. By doing the assessments it will help me to use various styles of teaching and be able to address each learning style. Second goal is to make the target checklist student friendly and let the students be aware what is expected from them and how the targets can be achieved. The students will be able to have their own checklist and mark off the targets that they have mastered. Then they will have to demonstrate mastery. Final goal is to help the students to know what targets they need to meet and then they can set their goals along with the teacher according to the state standards. I will use the assessments for informational purposes for the students which will help them to identify what subjects they need to study more or review for improvement. This will also help the students set goals for themselves and they will be able to see progress. The students will have a chart for tracking their own progress and will understand what they need to work on to achieve mastery.
One of my main goals is to teach my students the process of self assessment, I want my students to know the importance of been honest with themselves when doing self-assessment; this is very crucial because I want students to understand that they are the only ones that can tell themselves the truth about where they are within the subject area been taught to them (where they have their strengths and where they need help). From the results of my student’s self-assessments, I will now design a sustainable and effective way (learning targets) to help them improve where they have deficiencies.
My second goal ties to my number one goal in the sense that for my students to be engaged effectively in the learning process, I need to communicate effectively the student friendly learning targets that will help them improve on their deficiencies. I have realized that part of my classroom assessment should be to help my students keep believing in their potential as learners and I can only do that by showing them that the learning process is worth the effort and that the learning targets are attainable. Once students believe in your learning targets or believe that they can reach your learning targets, then impacting their learning lives becomes easy.
Re: Ana I do agree with you about giving the students the ability to set goals for themselves; I like it because you are empowering them to take charge of their learning process and I do believe that it is an effective way of helping students reach their learning targets.
My foremost goal is to teach in a way that enables students to learn in the best way possible. This would include presenting material in different ways to accommodate the different styles of learning for individuals and/or reinforce the topics. This would also include student-teacher interaction, student-student interaction, applying knowledge with hands-on or inquiry style learning, and teacher and student assessments. To me, this means that at the end of a lesson or section within a unit, students will understand the content well enough that they can teach it to someone else. Using informal assessments such as the crumpled paper toss or exit tickets at the end of each weekly lesson (before the end of the unit Pre-assessment)would give me a good idea of the class strengths and weaknesses. I would use the exit tickets within the weekly lessons to determine who has strengths in what. Then, because a student should be able to teach those topics to someone else, I think it would be a good idea to allow students to teach the other students what they know which reinforces their understanding and perhaps relates the ideas better to their fellow students than I may have. This also could build their confidence and give them practice being in front of a classroom for future presentations, etc. I think I would also use the Pre-assessment more than once to ensure the students are getting a good grasp before they get close to the formal assessment time. So I may use it 2 or 3 times with new material added following each new section taught. That way they are continually thinking about and reviewing older material as well as the new material.
I am also sold on the idea that students will do better if they do not think they are being graded (judged) on everything they do. I want them to assess themselves, see what they have learned along the way (and be proud of themselves), and recognize where they need to spend more time studying while developing a plan of attack to master those areas.
Learning targets are great in that students, parents and teachers all know the direction that teaching and learning are going and what is expected of the students. And the pre-assessments for every section lets everyone know how they are doing. And importantly, the students will get the feeling that they have choice and are in control of their learning processes.
I agree wholeheartedly with the idea of students feeling comfortable enough to truthfully assess themselves. This is why not giving grades for quizzes and during the pre-assessments are so important. Their confidence can knocked down which is the opposite of what we want to build. I also liked how you mentioned "friendly" learning targets. If they seem cold and unfriendly they may turn students off because they feel like they are being told that they "have to do this" and "have to do that." And as you said, "Once students' believe in your learning targets or believe that they can reach your learning targets, then impacting their learning lives becomes easy."
Elyssa said, "I really like the idea of students working with other students to help each other learn the material. I know that some students are more introverted or do not want to help others but in my classroom I would try to make that a priority."
I like this idea too. I would have them work in groups or as partners that I think would work well together, and to take it a step further, I would choose students periodically that I have seen are getting a good understanding (through exit tickets, etc.), and have them become the teacher at the front of the class and teach us chosen topic material that we have learned so far. I would hope that that would not cause shy students to report that they don't understand topics to avoid having to get in front of the class; but that is something I would try to pay attention to or possibly let them opt out if they are uncomfortable, because the last thing I would want them to do is to be dishonest with me and themselves about their learning process.
Like those who have posted before me, I want students to be involved in their own assessments. My main goal as an educator will be to get students to the point of independent/autonomous learning. With that as my goal, it’s clear to me that my students need to be able to self-assess. In the same vein, I want them to become habituated to working on their own learning. I hope to do this through reduced scaffolding over the year. While initially I will work to point out places to go and activities to perform to help them meet their learning targets, eventually I want to see that they’re picking up on the types of materials I’ve been suggesting. Perhaps this means I’ll invite the class to suggest tools for improving a skill. E.g. if you haven’t mastered the steps of aerobic metabolism, where should you go to work on it?
Elyssa- I like what you said about being willing to revise and re-visit your assessments according to the needs of your students. It's pretty clear to me that writing a test you think is of high-quality takes lots and lots of time, but it's such an important step if you want to make sure your students are getting the most out of your teaching. I reckon it's going to come down to doing things step-by-step.
Ana- I like what you said about having the students track their own progress. This seems like a great tool and we can get them in the habit of staying focused and organized when it comes to the task at hand. We've talking in class and on this post about making sure they track their own learning targets over the course of a unit, but this also applies to the course in its entirety. In my classes in high school we often had to keep a portfolio of our work over the semester and then reflect on what we'd covered, our strengths & weaknesses overall. Any thoughts on whether this seems worthwhile or how to design a good cumulative-learning tracker?
Tammy- I really liked when you said that you are beginning to believe that students will do better if they think that they are not going to be graded. I am beginning to really like that approach especially since many of our atudents will be in survival mode. I think it is important to see the larger picture and not hurt those students who get to the target in a longer period of time. It is very similar to the discussion we had yesterday that ultimately it is about getting to Detroit. It is very important that students recieve feedback on their way to Detroit but that the target is in mind.
Ana- I really liked that you talked about keeping students accountable for what they were learning through the self checklists. I think it is important that the students know exactly how they are doing. I think you touched on a very important topic in that students need to track their progress. I think students will feel better if they know exactly how they are doing and what they need to improve.
After watching the video in Dr. Coffee's class yesterday, I realized that the pre-formal assessment I composed does not assess (to the most part) where misconceptions may be occurring. I would therefore possibly use much (or some) of the assessment as is, but I would incorporate more open-ended questions as well. But definitely, I would use regular informal assessments (quizzes, worksheets) with open-ended questions with students having to explain the difference between concepts or why they chose the answer that they chose.
I would like to echo what you said in your post: 'helping students get to the point where they become independent learners'. I do agree with you that it is our responsibility as instructors to help them on that journey and also help them get to that final destination where they become independent learners.
I do like your post most especially where you talked about integrating different methods of presenting information to the students. I do believe that been flexible in the way you present information to students will help engage their interest which is very critical for effective learning in the classroom.
Tammy, I like what u said about students - students interaction and how they will be to learn from each other. I agree that it will help build their confidence and it can display mastery. Well said.
My goals for assessment practices within the classroom will be to apply assessments that help students evaluate themselves as learners and also to create an environment where they want to learn the information being taught. I hope that the students will look at the assessments as ways in which to validate their own learning processes, to use them in ways in which to set goals for themselves and to provide a drive within the students to go beyond the classroom to apply biology to the world around them. Additional goals and ways in which I will use assessment to help students achieve more are:
•Creating assessments that are positive with a clear understanding vision of the learning target. •Showing students examples of what is acceptable work and not acceptable work within the context of the standards being taught. •Offering regular feedback so that students don’t get lost before questioning how to get back on track. •To not create overwhelming assessments that make the students feel inadequate. •By letting students share their knowledge with each other. •Creating clear target assessments with clarity so that students feel these are accomplishable and beneficial to them. •Creating assessments with clear learning targets that apply knowledge, reasoning, skills, products, and help improve the students’ disposition towards biology. •Being creative in my assessments so that students’ are more apt to wanting to gain more knowledge in the target area.
I like where you talk about teachers who are unwilling to self-assess themselves. One of the biggest problems I have had on exams and/or assignments are when the wording of the questions are ambiguous but the teacher will only accept one answer and usually it was the answer they came up with. Even when arguing the point in class and showing different sources of where and how you came up with your correct answer some teachers refuse to be wrong. I often ran into this problem with my geology instructor in college and even though she would correct my score when I was able to identify additional options in the textbook she absolutely refused to do the same for the other students in the class (mainly because they didn’t realize it until I brought it up, see reading does pay off!). I feel as educators we are continuously learning and that it’s okay to make mistakes, it allows the students to see that everyone makes them, even teachers. It’s how we handle the mistakes that count.
I like that you would involve the students in finding ways in which they could improve their understanding of a subject. That is similar to what Shawn Cornally from the ThinkThankThunk TedTalk we watched in Dave and Steves’ class Tuesday night was talking about. I am interested in physically seeing this approach directly applied in the classroom setting. Listening to Shawn speak about it in person over Skye really piped my interest in how this process works in relation to teaching all of the state standards and in ways in which the students are being assessed.
After five weeks, and what I have been learning, I have so many new ideas on what I want to do in my classes. I want to have opened-ended classes, whee students are comfortable discussing what they know, or don't know. I want to have discussions (which would be one way of formative assessments for me) where the learners will discuss what we have learned, and to see what their concepts are, if they have understood what we have just gone over. I want my learners to be active in their progress, with self-evalutions, and input into how the learners will progress...what will their next step be. I want classes where they learners feel comfortable, where they can through input out, and not feel like they will be mocked, or that their answers may be wrong. Mostly I would like to have learners who may not love science or chemistry as I do, but will walk away from my class with a healthy respect for it, and possibly will be a benefit to their world with being able to understand scientific concepts.
Rob, I like especially the part where you discuss having the students become independent learners. That is such an important part of being an educator. I believe one of the best legacies that we could leave our students with is a love of learning, for the sake of learning. I really think that you will accomplish this!!
Elyssa, I am so with you about wishing this information was available when I was in school. I think that we aree on the cusp of a good time in education. I remember being in school, and also getting tests back and not knowing what the point was behind the test. I would see the correct and incorrect answers, and then we would go on to the next unit, and not even discuss the test. It would have been much better if we could have gone over the test, and been able to understand what we got wrong, and why we may have gotten it wrong
I really like the idea of the students being involved in their own assessment. This seems crucial in the process of transforming them from just students to learners. Like I've said many times before, this is a great way for students to become invested in their own learning. I like the idea of matching each question on an assessment to a learning target. This way, when the students review their work, they can see where they are strong and where there is room for improvement.
I never thought I would, but the learning targets are actually growing on me. I initially thought they were going to be just a formality to relate to the standards (which seemed like a formality), but I really believe these are actually very useful now. Being able to show students beforehand what they are going to learn is great. When they can keep track of those targets throughout the unit and evaluate their own progress towards learning them, they will be in charge of their own learning.
These chapters proved to be a large help in my understanding of assessment, particularly in the purpose of assessment. They were exactly what I needed to gain confidence in how to properly go about 'testing' materials that were presented. I never considered that there were options in testing, and that the reason for assessing could be for more than the teacher's grade book. In fact, I can't say that the concept of informal formative assessments came up more than one or two times in my educational career.
These realizations allowed me to rethink my classroom goals and to redefine how and what material I will present. The addition of the formative assessment concept, will probably have the greates impact on classroom progress. This will give me and my students both a chance to reflect on what we have learned (post-assessment) prior to a 'real test', and act to tailor what needs to be learned (pre-assessment) for future lessons.
I will make sure that students understand that these 'spot checks' are for them as well and teach them how to use the assessments to keep track of their own learning.
Rob, to answer your question, having the students keep a portfolio of their work throughout the semester seems like a great idea. I remember doing things like that occasionally in my own education, and it was always stunning to see the improvement I made over the course of a semester. That is such a great way to show students that they are actually learning things and making real progress.
Steve, I'm glad to see your liking of the learning targets. I am still getting there, and I suppose that my initial apprehension had to do with how they were presented. If given a list of 'this is what you will be learning', I don't think it would work with most kids. But, if presented in an interesting fashion (like the bookmark, pre-assessments, etc.) I think that they could catch on and really benefit from not being in the dark about their own learning.
Anne, I really like what you said about the tests having a higher meaning. I always have thought about tests as simply a big, intimidating way to see how much I knew. I never thought that they could be used to help me learn. Even when we would go over the results in class, I never had a clear understanding that I could be using that opportunity to learn about what I know and what I don't. The more we can show students that we are not just having them jump through the traditional hoops for the sake of jumping through them, the better.
In respect to Rob's mention of 'removing the scaffolding', that seems like the most honest expectation to have from a class. It seems that with these terrific ideas, we could get ourselves in trouble with trying to implement them too early (per se, does anyone know what is going on in David Coffey's class yet?). We have to have some scaffolding set up until the students catch on that we are trying to do something different with learning; a bridge between the way they have been 'taught, and the way to teach themselves. In lieu of scaffolding, imagine jumping into an inquiry project (or 30 in each class as Shawn suggests) with students who have been used to be told what to do.
Anne, this will be a short comment, but your realization, coming from an engineer, means a lot. Time off, as we are seeing, is a very relative term. I think those three months were designed to catch up on the sleep we lost throughout 'the working year.'
I like the idea of formative assessment, less work for me. haha.
The teacher that I learned the most math from was the teacher that made me work the most. It was my first semester back from my career and she had a quiz everyday. She graded for perfection an A was an A and in my opinion a B was a D. Although she was the most demanding teacher I ever had she helped me learn Cal III, while relearning preCalc, Calc I, and Calc II all at the same time. Without her as a teacher I would have not learned the material I did.
The book talks about formative assessment, but I would like to have a quiz every day. Homework would 20% of the grade and that would be checked by a quick glance to see that it was done and work was shown. The quiz would check that they understood what they did and checked with a fine toothed comb. The quizzes would hit the points that would be checked on the test and would give me feedback on anything that needed to be gone over, maybe everyone did a poor job on the quiz? I know that is summative assessment, but that made me work the hardest and take control of and manage my learning.
Overall, the most important aspect of a classroom is how thoroughly and effectively students are learning, and that they are becoming independent lifelong learners. It seems to be the general consensus that formative assessments are extremely important, and I have come to completely agree. It shouldn't necessarily be a matter of how much or what methods are used to learn, but rather that the student is learning and progressing. Learning targets should be given to the students so that they know their goals, and every assessment should explicitly show which targets are being assessed. Allowing an option to say how sure or unsure a student is of an answer on assessments seems really important in allowing them to see their progress over time and to better self assess. Giving pre- and post-assessments allow students to visualize the progress they've made. By giving students options, as well as keeping them actively involved and discussing in the classroom, they are bound to be more engaged. I feel that engagement is the key to student learning and student achievement in the classroom. Allowing students to set their own goals is another key element I got from reading Stiggins. By allowing the students to be involved in setting their goals for the class, they are more likely to strive to reach their goals. Self assessing is also extremely important for student, as well as for the teacher. The teacher should be able to demonstrate to students how to self assess and provide them with the opportunity to progress. Also, as a teacher I plan to be constantly trying to learn from my students and my classroom. I tend to over plan everything, but in this situation I know that I will be constantly learning and revising my methods.
Elyssa, I completely agree with your statements and I was also rarely given the opportunity to self assess in school. I'd take an assessment of sorts, turn it in, and then get it back with a number written on top. We were never told how important it was to simply learn and how those numbers reflected our learning. From there it made me assume that if I wasn't getting an A I wasn't doing well and wasn't putting in enough effort. I liked how you said "We just knew that we had to know certain information and we were going to be tested on it." There was never any explanation of what our goals were or where we were going, so it was extremely difficult to know when you got there. I also agree that many teachers do not assess themselves and what their doing. Many stick to the routine they've been using for years, and its not always effective for that particular group of students.
Ana, your comment "Teachers need to become learners as well as the students," was one of the most important comments I read. I completely agree and think that this concept is extremely important. Many teachers are ineffective because they are not learners. How can we expect students to become learners if they are not being taught by learners? There is so much to learn every day that is spent with adolescents, even for someone like me that was considered an adolescent just a few years ago. As our society progresses technologically and our adolescents are having different interests than a decade ago, it is important to be able to grow and learn along with the times. Teachers need to be able to teach effectively to our youth so that they can become members of our society that are productive, knowledgable, and independent learners, and to do this teachers need to be learners as well.
I had exactly zero idea of how to use assessment when I began this class. Substitute teaching, classroom assisting, etc. had given me some ideas of classroom management and presentation of material, but that’s about it. I was never exposed to such target-driven and interactive assessment in my own education either. If my assessments were target-driven then the targets were always in the background and never required my personal participation beyond “study hard.”
My primary goal is to use assessment with my students very differently than it was used with me. I want my assessments to clearly measure learning targets. I want my students to know exactly what is being measured and why.
I feel like I have a fair grasp on the student involvement component. I know what I want to use and how to use it. I also feel that my question writing and communication are strong, at least for a rookie!
I do not feel as comfortable with my skill at making questions that measure student knowledge effectively. I don’t have a strong enough grasp on the common hurdles and misunderstandings students experience to write questions that test for these things. I expect that will develop with experience. I have also found a couple of websites dedicated to improving science assessments, including biology. I intend to use their work to boost my assessment skill and refine that over time as I gain my own experience in the classroom.
I also need to develop more experience utilizing informal formative assessments in the classroom. I want to experiment with different techniques (of which we have many!) and see what students respond to best.
Well-targeted formal assessment tied in with strong student involvement will give my students a powerful tool for achievement that I never had. My own skillful use of informal and formal assessments will help me tailor and differentiate my instruction to help my students reach their learning targets. I’ll accept nothing less for them.
Heather, I like that you identified the importance of students becoming independent lifelong learners. I couldn't agree more! Of all the material we can teach, nothing compares to the value of this. It reminds me of the analogy from Paula's class of giving a fish versus teaching to fish. We will be responsible to make sure our students leave with their standardized-test-monitored quota of fish, but how much more powerful will they be if they catch them themselves!
Nate, I also had a professor who gave a quiz in every class period. I can tell you that I never walked in there unprepared! It was a great way to keep student learning focused. I'm sure it provided the professor with a really clear picture of how students were keeping up too. I don't know if these assessments need to be so formal, but I can definitely see the value of near-constant assessment of some type.
When I read the 5 chapters in Stiggins, I kept thinking to myself, “What a great idea!” and how I wished I had been given time while I was going through school to self assess. When I went through school, the teacher would give us a test, we would get it back with the numbers right and wrong and told to go home and see which questions we got right and wrong and how we need to improve. There was no place on the test to check if we were unsure or sure about the questions. We also did not have clear targets that were phrased in the “I can” way. We just knew that we had to know certain information and we were going to be tested on it. When tests were given we had no idea what learning target each question represented. Also, if a student did not do well on a test in high school, it was because they did not study or apply themselves. Unfortunately, I rarely saw teachers who were self-assessing themselves and changing assessments based on student comments or performance. During college, I saw professors willing to change their test formats and willing to admit when they would make a mistake but it was still rare that a teacher would change completely how they were going to assess us.
ReplyDeleteOne goal that I have is that I will have my students participate during the whole learning process. I really liked when Stiggins wrote about how teachers need to teach students to self-assess and set goals. As a teacher, our responsibility is to hand out our test plan to our students so they can go through each of the learning targets or concepts and decide through some method (sure/unsure, stoplight colors) whether or not they are confident or not confident. I really like the idea of students working with other students to help each other learn the material. I know that some students are more introverted or do not want to help others but in my classroom I would try to make that a priority.
Another goal I have for my classroom is that I will always be willing to revise my test methods based on the feedback I get from other teachers and students. I am realizing that teaching is not about being independent all the time but collaborating with other teachers so that the students can be taught and assessed in the best way possible.
Lastly, I really like how Stiggins outlined how assessments should be created and the stages of assessment development (Plan, Develop, Critique, Administer, Revise). I am going to try very hard to keep to this model because it is so important.
Elyssa,
ReplyDeleteI like the goals you have set for yourself and classroom and I agree with you in regards to teachers not willing to change their teaching style or that matter the test. A lot of times you have teachers and professors recycle the same couple of test during their time teaching. Then they wonder why the students aren't successful. Teachers need to become learners as well as the students.
My goals are to be able to assess my students in various ways and not just in the traditional format. Like the informal assessments we used in class are excellent ways for me to be able to identify what subject content the students aren’t getting or mastering. This will help me fill in any gaps that are missing for the students and be able to help them make the connections with them. By doing the assessments it will help me to use various styles of teaching and be able to address each learning style. Second goal is to make the target checklist
ReplyDeletestudent friendly and let the students be aware what is expected from them and how the targets can be achieved. The students will be able to have their own checklist and mark off the targets that they have mastered. Then they will have to demonstrate mastery. Final goal is to help the students to know what targets they need to meet and then they can set their goals along with the teacher according to the state standards. I will use the assessments for informational purposes for the students which will help them to identify what subjects they need to study more or review for improvement. This will also help the students set goals for themselves and they will be able to see progress. The students will have a chart for tracking their own progress and will understand what they need to work on to achieve mastery.
One of my main goals is to teach my students the process of self assessment, I want my students to know the importance of been honest with themselves when doing self-assessment; this is very crucial because I want students to understand that they are the only ones that can tell themselves the truth about where they are within the subject area been taught to them (where they have their strengths and where they need help). From the results of my student’s self-assessments, I will now design a sustainable and effective way (learning targets) to help them improve where they have deficiencies.
ReplyDeleteMy second goal ties to my number one goal in the sense that for my students to be engaged effectively in the learning process, I need to communicate effectively the student friendly learning targets that will help them improve on their deficiencies. I have realized that part of my classroom assessment should be to help my students keep believing in their potential as learners and I can only do that by showing them that the learning process is worth the effort and that the learning targets are attainable. Once students believe in your learning targets or believe that they can reach your learning targets, then impacting their learning lives becomes easy.
Re: Ana
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you about giving the students the ability to set goals for themselves; I like it because you are empowering them to take charge of their learning process and I do believe that it is an effective way of helping students reach their learning targets.
My foremost goal is to teach in a way that enables students to learn in the best way possible. This would include presenting material in different ways to accommodate the different styles of learning for individuals and/or reinforce the topics. This would also include student-teacher interaction, student-student interaction, applying knowledge with hands-on or inquiry style learning, and teacher and student assessments. To me, this means that at the end of a lesson or section within a unit, students will understand the content well enough that they can teach it to someone else. Using informal assessments such as the crumpled paper toss or exit tickets at the end of each weekly lesson (before the end of the unit Pre-assessment)would give me a good idea of the class strengths and weaknesses. I would use the exit tickets within the weekly lessons to determine who has strengths in what. Then, because a student should be able to teach those topics to someone else, I think it would be a good idea to allow students to teach the other students what they know which reinforces their understanding and perhaps relates the ideas better to their fellow students than I may have. This also could build their confidence and give them practice being in front of a classroom for future presentations, etc. I think I would also use the Pre-assessment more than once to ensure the students are getting a good grasp before they get close to the formal assessment time. So I may use it 2 or 3 times with new material added following each new section taught. That way they are continually thinking about and reviewing older material as well as the new material.
ReplyDeleteI am also sold on the idea that students will do better if they do not think they are being graded (judged) on everything they do. I want them to assess themselves, see what they have learned along the way (and be proud of themselves), and recognize where they need to spend more time studying while developing a plan of attack to master those areas.
Learning targets are great in that students, parents and teachers all know the direction that teaching and learning are going and what is expected of the students. And the pre-assessments for every section lets everyone know how they are doing. And importantly, the students will get the feeling that they have choice and are in control of their learning processes.
Toby,
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly with the idea of students feeling comfortable enough to truthfully assess themselves. This is why not giving grades for quizzes and during the pre-assessments are so important. Their confidence can knocked down which is the opposite of what we want to build. I also liked how you mentioned "friendly" learning targets. If they seem cold and unfriendly they may turn students off because they feel like they are being told that they "have to do this" and "have to do that." And as you said, "Once students' believe in your learning targets or believe that they can reach your learning targets, then impacting their learning lives becomes easy."
Elyssa said, "I really like the idea of students working with other students to help each other learn the material. I know that some students are more introverted or do not want to help others but in my classroom I would try to make that a priority."
ReplyDeleteI like this idea too. I would have them work in groups or as partners that I think would work well together, and to take it a step further, I would choose students periodically that I have seen are getting a good understanding (through exit tickets, etc.), and have them become the teacher at the front of the class and teach us chosen topic material that we have learned so far. I would hope that that would not cause shy students to report that they don't understand topics to avoid having to get in front of the class; but that is something I would try to pay attention to or possibly let them opt out if they are uncomfortable, because the last thing I would want them to do is to be dishonest with me and themselves about their learning process.
Like those who have posted before me, I want students to be involved in their own assessments. My main goal as an educator will be to get students to the point of independent/autonomous learning. With that as my goal, it’s clear to me that my students need to be able to self-assess. In the same vein, I want them to become habituated to working on their own learning. I hope to do this through reduced scaffolding over the year. While initially I will work to point out places to go and activities to perform to help them meet their learning targets, eventually I want to see that they’re picking up on the types of materials I’ve been suggesting. Perhaps this means I’ll invite the class to suggest tools for improving a skill. E.g. if you haven’t mastered the steps of aerobic metabolism, where should you go to work on it?
ReplyDeleteElyssa- I like what you said about being willing to revise and re-visit your assessments according to the needs of your students. It's pretty clear to me that writing a test you think is of high-quality takes lots and lots of time, but it's such an important step if you want to make sure your students are getting the most out of your teaching. I reckon it's going to come down to doing things step-by-step.
ReplyDeleteAna- I like what you said about having the students track their own progress. This seems like a great tool and we can get them in the habit of staying focused and organized when it comes to the task at hand. We've talking in class and on this post about making sure they track their own learning targets over the course of a unit, but this also applies to the course in its entirety. In my classes in high school we often had to keep a portfolio of our work over the semester and then reflect on what we'd covered, our strengths & weaknesses overall. Any thoughts on whether this seems worthwhile or how to design a good cumulative-learning tracker?
ReplyDeleteTammy- I really liked when you said that you are beginning to believe that students will do better if they think that they are not going to be graded. I am beginning to really like that approach especially since many of our atudents will be in survival mode. I think it is important to see the larger picture and not hurt those students who get to the target in a longer period of time. It is very similar to the discussion we had yesterday that ultimately it is about getting to Detroit. It is very important that students recieve feedback on their way to Detroit but that the target is in mind.
ReplyDeleteAna- I really liked that you talked about keeping students accountable for what they were learning through the self checklists. I think it is important that the students know exactly how they are doing. I think you touched on a very important topic in that students need to track their progress. I think students will feel better if they know exactly how they are doing and what they need to improve.
ReplyDeleteRealization,
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the video in Dr. Coffee's class yesterday, I realized that the pre-formal assessment I composed does not assess (to the most part) where misconceptions may be occurring. I would therefore possibly use much (or some) of the assessment as is, but I would incorporate more open-ended questions as well. But definitely, I would use regular informal assessments (quizzes, worksheets) with open-ended questions with students having to explain the difference between concepts or why they chose the answer that they chose.
Re: Rob
ReplyDeleteI would like to echo what you said in your post: 'helping students get to the point where they become independent learners'. I do agree with you that it is our responsibility as instructors to help them on that journey and also help them get to that final destination where they become independent learners.
Re: Tammy
ReplyDeleteI do like your post most especially where you talked about integrating different methods of presenting information to the students. I do believe that been flexible in the way you present information to students will help engage their interest which is very critical for effective learning in the classroom.
Tammy,
ReplyDeleteI like what u said about students - students interaction and how they will be to learn from each other. I agree that it will help build their confidence and it can display mastery. Well said.
My goals for assessment practices within the classroom will be to apply assessments that help students evaluate themselves as learners and also to create an environment where they want to learn the information being taught. I hope that the students will look at the assessments as ways in which to validate their own learning processes, to use them in ways in which to set goals for themselves and to provide a drive within the students to go beyond the classroom to apply biology to the world around them. Additional goals and ways in which I will use assessment to help students achieve more are:
ReplyDelete•Creating assessments that are positive with a clear understanding vision of the learning target.
•Showing students examples of what is acceptable work and not acceptable work within the context of the standards being taught.
•Offering regular feedback so that students don’t get lost before questioning how to get back on track.
•To not create overwhelming assessments that make the students feel inadequate.
•By letting students share their knowledge with each other.
•Creating clear target assessments with clarity so that students feel these are accomplishable and beneficial to them.
•Creating assessments with clear learning targets that apply knowledge, reasoning, skills, products, and help improve the students’ disposition towards biology.
•Being creative in my assessments so that students’ are more apt to wanting to gain more knowledge in the target area.
Elyssa,
ReplyDeleteI like where you talk about teachers who are unwilling to self-assess themselves. One of the biggest problems I have had on exams and/or assignments are when the wording of the questions are ambiguous but the teacher will only accept one answer and usually it was the answer they came up with. Even when arguing the point in class and showing different sources of where and how you came up with your correct answer some teachers refuse to be wrong. I often ran into this problem with my geology instructor in college and even though she would correct my score when I was able to identify additional options in the textbook she absolutely refused to do the same for the other students in the class (mainly because they didn’t realize it until I brought it up, see reading does pay off!). I feel as educators we are continuously learning and that it’s okay to make mistakes, it allows the students to see that everyone makes them, even teachers. It’s how we handle the mistakes that count.
Rob,
ReplyDeleteI like that you would involve the students in finding ways in which they could improve their understanding of a subject. That is similar to what Shawn Cornally from the ThinkThankThunk TedTalk we watched in Dave and Steves’ class Tuesday night was talking about. I am interested in physically seeing this approach directly applied in the classroom setting. Listening to Shawn speak about it in person over Skye really piped my interest in how this process works in relation to teaching all of the state standards and in ways in which the students are being assessed.
After five weeks, and what I have been learning, I have so many new ideas on what I want to do in my classes. I want to have opened-ended classes, whee students are comfortable discussing what they know, or don't know. I want to have discussions (which would be one way of formative assessments for me) where the learners will discuss what we have learned, and to see what their concepts are, if they have understood what we have just gone over. I want my learners to be active in their progress, with self-evalutions, and input into how the learners will progress...what will their next step be. I want classes where they learners feel comfortable, where they can through input out, and not feel like they will be mocked, or that their answers may be wrong. Mostly I would like to have learners who may not love science or chemistry as I do, but will walk away from my class with a healthy respect for it, and possibly will be a benefit to their world with being able to understand scientific concepts.
ReplyDeleteRob,
ReplyDeleteI like especially the part where you discuss having the students become independent learners. That is such an important part of being an educator. I believe one of the best legacies that we could leave our students with is a love of learning, for the sake of learning. I really think that you will accomplish this!!
Elyssa,
ReplyDeleteI am so with you about wishing this information was available when I was in school. I think that we aree on the cusp of a good time in education. I remember being in school, and also getting tests back and not knowing what the point was behind the test. I would see the correct and incorrect answers, and then we would go on to the next unit, and not even discuss the test. It would have been much better if we could have gone over the test, and been able to understand what we got wrong, and why we may have gotten it wrong
I really like the idea of the students being involved in their own assessment. This seems crucial in the process of transforming them from just students to learners. Like I've said many times before, this is a great way for students to become invested in their own learning. I like the idea of matching each question on an assessment to a learning target. This way, when the students review their work, they can see where they are strong and where there is room for improvement.
ReplyDeleteI never thought I would, but the learning targets are actually growing on me. I initially thought they were going to be just a formality to relate to the standards (which seemed like a formality), but I really believe these are actually very useful now. Being able to show students beforehand what they are going to learn is great. When they can keep track of those targets throughout the unit and evaluate their own progress towards learning them, they will be in charge of their own learning.
These chapters proved to be a large help in my understanding of assessment, particularly in the purpose of assessment. They were exactly what I needed to gain confidence in how to properly go about 'testing' materials that were presented. I never considered that there were options in testing, and that the reason for assessing could be for more than the teacher's grade book. In fact, I can't say that the concept of informal formative assessments came up more than one or two times in my educational career.
ReplyDeleteThese realizations allowed me to rethink my classroom goals and to redefine how and what material I will present. The addition of the formative assessment concept, will probably have the greates impact on classroom progress. This will give me and my students both a chance to reflect on what we have learned (post-assessment) prior to a 'real test', and act to tailor what needs to be learned (pre-assessment) for future lessons.
I will make sure that students understand that these 'spot checks' are for them as well and teach them how to use the assessments to keep track of their own learning.
Rob, to answer your question, having the students keep a portfolio of their work throughout the semester seems like a great idea. I remember doing things like that occasionally in my own education, and it was always stunning to see the improvement I made over the course of a semester. That is such a great way to show students that they are actually learning things and making real progress.
ReplyDeleteSteve, I'm glad to see your liking of the learning targets. I am still getting there, and I suppose that my initial apprehension had to do with how they were presented. If given a list of 'this is what you will be learning', I don't think it would work with most kids. But, if presented in an interesting fashion (like the bookmark, pre-assessments, etc.) I think that they could catch on and really benefit from not being in the dark about their own learning.
ReplyDeleteAnne, I really like what you said about the tests having a higher meaning. I always have thought about tests as simply a big, intimidating way to see how much I knew. I never thought that they could be used to help me learn. Even when we would go over the results in class, I never had a clear understanding that I could be using that opportunity to learn about what I know and what I don't. The more we can show students that we are not just having them jump through the traditional hoops for the sake of jumping through them, the better.
ReplyDeleteIn respect to Rob's mention of 'removing the scaffolding', that seems like the most honest expectation to have from a class. It seems that with these terrific ideas, we could get ourselves in trouble with trying to implement them too early (per se, does anyone know what is going on in David Coffey's class yet?). We have to have some scaffolding set up until the students catch on that we are trying to do something different with learning; a bridge between the way they have been 'taught, and the way to teach themselves. In lieu of scaffolding, imagine jumping into an inquiry project (or 30 in each class as Shawn suggests) with students who have been used to be told what to do.
ReplyDeleteAnne, this will be a short comment, but your realization, coming from an engineer, means a lot. Time off, as we are seeing, is a very relative term. I think those three months were designed to catch up on the sleep we lost throughout 'the working year.'
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of formative assessment, less work for me. haha.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher that I learned the most math from was the teacher that made me work the most. It was my first semester back from my career and she had a quiz everyday. She graded for perfection an A was an A and in my opinion a B was a D. Although she was the most demanding teacher I ever had she helped me learn Cal III, while relearning preCalc, Calc I, and Calc II all at the same time. Without her as a teacher I would have not learned the material I did.
The book talks about formative assessment, but I would like to have a quiz every day. Homework would 20% of the grade and that would be checked by a quick glance to see that it was done and work was shown. The quiz would check that they understood what they did and checked with a fine toothed comb. The quizzes would hit the points that would be checked on the test and would give me feedback on anything that needed to be gone over, maybe everyone did a poor job on the quiz? I know that is summative assessment, but that made me work the hardest and take control of and manage my learning.
It is not going to work is it?
Overall, the most important aspect of a classroom is how thoroughly and effectively students are learning, and that they are becoming independent lifelong learners. It seems to be the general consensus that formative assessments are extremely important, and I have come to completely agree. It shouldn't necessarily be a matter of how much or what methods are used to learn, but rather that the student is learning and progressing. Learning targets should be given to the students so that they know their goals, and every assessment should explicitly show which targets are being assessed. Allowing an option to say how sure or unsure a student is of an answer on assessments seems really important in allowing them to see their progress over time and to better self assess. Giving pre- and post-assessments allow students to visualize the progress they've made. By giving students options, as well as keeping them actively involved and discussing in the classroom, they are bound to be more engaged. I feel that engagement is the key to student learning and student achievement in the classroom. Allowing students to set their own goals is another key element I got from reading Stiggins. By allowing the students to be involved in setting their goals for the class, they are more likely to strive to reach their goals. Self assessing is also extremely important for student, as well as for the teacher. The teacher should be able to demonstrate to students how to self assess and provide them with the opportunity to progress. Also, as a teacher I plan to be constantly trying to learn from my students and my classroom. I tend to over plan everything, but in this situation I know that I will be constantly learning and revising my methods.
ReplyDeleteElyssa, I completely agree with your statements and I was also rarely given the opportunity to self assess in school. I'd take an assessment of sorts, turn it in, and then get it back with a number written on top. We were never told how important it was to simply learn and how those numbers reflected our learning. From there it made me assume that if I wasn't getting an A I wasn't doing well and wasn't putting in enough effort. I liked how you said "We just knew that we had to know certain information and we were going to be tested on it." There was never any explanation of what our goals were or where we were going, so it was extremely difficult to know when you got there. I also agree that many teachers do not assess themselves and what their doing. Many stick to the routine they've been using for years, and its not always effective for that particular group of students.
ReplyDeleteAna, your comment "Teachers need to become learners as well as the students," was one of the most important comments I read. I completely agree and think that this concept is extremely important. Many teachers are ineffective because they are not learners. How can we expect students to become learners if they are not being taught by learners? There is so much to learn every day that is spent with adolescents, even for someone like me that was considered an adolescent just a few years ago. As our society progresses technologically and our adolescents are having different interests than a decade ago, it is important to be able to grow and learn along with the times. Teachers need to be able to teach effectively to our youth so that they can become members of our society that are productive, knowledgable, and independent learners, and to do this teachers need to be learners as well.
ReplyDeleteI had exactly zero idea of how to use assessment when I began this class. Substitute teaching, classroom assisting, etc. had given me some ideas of classroom management and presentation of material, but that’s about it. I was never exposed to such target-driven and interactive assessment in my own education either. If my assessments were target-driven then the targets were always in the background and never required my personal participation beyond “study hard.”
ReplyDeleteMy primary goal is to use assessment with my students very differently than it was used with me. I want my assessments to clearly measure learning targets. I want my students to know exactly what is being measured and why.
I feel like I have a fair grasp on the student involvement component. I know what I want to use and how to use it. I also feel that my question writing and communication are strong, at least for a rookie!
I do not feel as comfortable with my skill at making questions that measure student knowledge effectively. I don’t have a strong enough grasp on the common hurdles and misunderstandings students experience to write questions that test for these things. I expect that will develop with experience. I have also found a couple of websites dedicated to improving science assessments, including biology. I intend to use their work to boost my assessment skill and refine that over time as I gain my own experience in the classroom.
I also need to develop more experience utilizing informal formative assessments in the classroom. I want to experiment with different techniques (of which we have many!) and see what students respond to best.
Well-targeted formal assessment tied in with strong student involvement will give my students a powerful tool for achievement that I never had. My own skillful use of informal and formal assessments will help me tailor and differentiate my instruction to help my students reach their learning targets. I’ll accept nothing less for them.
Heather, I like that you identified the importance of students becoming independent lifelong learners. I couldn't agree more! Of all the material we can teach, nothing compares to the value of this. It reminds me of the analogy from Paula's class of giving a fish versus teaching to fish. We will be responsible to make sure our students leave with their standardized-test-monitored quota of fish, but how much more powerful will they be if they catch them themselves!
ReplyDeleteNate, I also had a professor who gave a quiz in every class period. I can tell you that I never walked in there unprepared! It was a great way to keep student learning focused. I'm sure it provided the professor with a really clear picture of how students were keeping up too. I don't know if these assessments need to be so formal, but I can definitely see the value of near-constant assessment of some type.
ReplyDelete