Blog Post #1
Assessment philosophy. What is assessment? What is its aim? What is the relationship between assessment, classroom environment, and instructional practices? What is important to keep in mind when designing assessments for your classroom?
My aim for assessment is to evaluate my students using a variety of techniques and assessment processes to gain important information regarding my students so I can adapt the needs of my students so they are all able to succeed in their own way.
In my opinion, assessment, classroom environment and instructional practices all go hand in hand with each other. In order for a teacher to have an effective classroom they have to be able to assess their students in a meaningful way, have a good classroom environment and use instructional practices that allow their students to be successful. Assessment is both useful for teachers and students. Teachers use assessment to gain knowledge regarding the needs of their students so they can adapt their teaching to meet the needs of their students so they have an opportunity to show their full potential and show how successful they can be.
It is important to keep in mind that all of your students will learn differently and will be stronger and weaker in different aspects of learning. My goal as a physical education teacher is to encourage my students to do the best they can and hopefully by assessing them I can motivate my students to want to continue learning. We have to keep in mind that assessment should always be transparent because no one likes getting surprised with information that they were not originally presented with. All of the information should be there with no hidden surprises. We also have to remember to design assessments based around our students needs rather than doing something that is easier for a teacher to make or grade. In the end, it is about the students learning not how easy it is for us as teachers.
Blog Post #2
Why are We Assessing? What is it for?
As an educator, our responsibilities are to educate our students and prepare them for life. In order to do so, we need to assess them. Volante (2006) lists man effective assessment strategies to use in the classroom and options to choose from that work best with your students. For myself, I want to make sure that I provide my students with assessments that allow them to grow as students and ones that help me make them a better student.
I personally have little to no experience assessing students other than the ones I coach. I have never had the opportunity to assess students in a classroom setting so I am hoping a have the chance once I enter my pre-internship. I believe that students should know what they are being assessed on rather than it being a surprise or never knowing at all. It gives them an opportunity to improve on their skills. Assessing also helps the teacher figure out what their students and struggling with and need improvement on and also what they are succeeding in.
Blog Post #3
Why can we no longer rely on traditional forms of assessment?
We can no longer rely on traditional forms of assessment because every student learns differently. Every student is classified as a diverse learner and express themselves differently. Some students express themselves better verbally, written or presented. The traditional form of assessment is typically written exams which is pretty much just seeing how well students can memorize the content rather than gaining understanding and reasoning behind the content. Assessment is supposed to show the student how to get better in a particular subject rather than just throwing a test in front of them to see how much they have memorized and can regurjatate onto paper.
We can also no longer rely on traditional form of assessment because times are changed rather quickly in the world. a lot of research is being done and technology is taking its toll in today’s society. Formal assessment is not really the social norm in schools anymore because teachers are advancing their assessment practices by adding technology as an assessment tool rather than using just a pen and paper.
Blog Post #4
Tools and Strategies: Meaningful Feedback, Peer Assessment, Self-Assessment:
The first sentence to Sackstein’s article says it all. He states that we need to be able to give understand what good feedback is and how to give it to students before we can ask them to give each other feedback (Sackstein, 2017). I believe this is 100% accurate because most teachers are unable to give back good feedback yet they expect students to give each other good feedback without knowing how to do it properly. Effective feedback is very time consuming for the teacher but it is the best and most effective way to give feedback so your students know exactly what they are doing well in and what they need improvement with. Even though this is an effective method, we as teachers need to make sure that we only focus on one or two elements that the student needs to work on rather than stating everything at once, as mentioned by Sackstein (2017). I agree with this method, however, I think teacher have a really hard time with this. I do not know if it is because teachers do not know how to do proper feedback or if it is because they are not sure how much to say (is this enough feedback? Should I add more? Is this helpful feedback?). Sackstein (2017) mentioned that teachers should provide feedback in the student friendly way and I feel like that theory. There are many times where students will receive feedback from a teacher but they have no idea what it means so in the end it is pointless for the student and the teacher. There has been a lot of times where I would get an assignment back with feedback on it in university and I had no idea what the professors were getting at with their feedback. Easy wording that everyone can understand is the most effective in my opinion.
Sackstein (2017) suggested making a rubric with your students. I really like this because it gives students the opportunity to give input on how they would like to be marked and get marked on what they think is important in regards to that assignment. I was able to do this in one of my university classes. It can be a time-consuming process but I think it ha s a bigger impact on the students work because they are the ones that made it so they cannot really complain the grading system and you can hold them accountable.
In the first video segment, it is mentioned that “descriptive feedback is the most powerful tool for improving students learning” (Black & William; 2003). I one hundred percent agree with this statement. By giving descriptive feedback, this allows students to see what they are succeeding in and what they need improvement in. This information gives students the opportunity to critically think about their work and ways to improve it to receive a better grade for the next assignment. The second video also states that students only want to look at their grade when they get an assignment back and pay little or no attention to the feedback you provided. I know this is true because I am guilty for it. I focus solely on the numerical number I receive and just skim through the feedback that was provided. In order to get away from this, we as teacher need to make sure the students understand the reasoning as to why we give feedback and how it is going to help throughout the year. I do not think that a lot of students understand the purpose of it so they do not bother paying any attention to it.
Blog Post #5
In the first paragraph “Alignment between assessment and learning?” by James, it talks about doing a short answer question on a science quiz. It is all just a recall of facts and not if the student is understanding the concept of the content that has been given to them (James,2006). Teachers are assessing their students based on how much they can memorize and regurgitate onto paper rather than seeing how much they have actually retained and understood. This can be frustrating for both teacher and students however, it is not all the teacher’s fault. In some cases, I am sure it is on purpose however, I just think teachers do not know how to properly assess their students. I do not believe that teachers are properly trained (if trained at all) to assess students. It is unfortunate because that is a huge part of their job but it is the reality. In this article there are a variety of examples in regards to assessment. In the first example, the student is placed in a separate room from the classroom and is in there alone. The teacher then gives him a test/exam to complete. From my experience, this is a very stressful situation to be in, I cannot imagine being a new student whose second language is English. This would not be an accurate way to assess a student’s knowledge and understanding especially being a new student with English being your second language. The second example is a little bit better but it is still not the most ideal situation. Instead of just making note of what he is struggling with she should take the time to address it with the students and help him rather than just making him move around the cue cards until he gets it right. That is not helping him learn and understand the concepts. Lastly, example three represents an ideal solution to the problem. Collaborating with other teachers can help students who are experts at a topic and novice at a topic. Both the student and the teacher can learn from each other to get the best possible outcome. The students are provided with the supports they need in order to be successful with the task. Later on, in the article it talks about the different theories. I am going to talk about Pavlov behavioural theory because I find that it is still something that is used on a daily basis. I have heard a lot of discussions based on this theory, a lot of people are against the reward and punishment aspect of it but I do not understand why they can be against that. I say that because everything in life has to do with this theory. Let’s take students for example, when they finish their homework or do well on a test, they are usually reward with candy, electronics or praise. If they do poorly on a test or do not hand their homework in, there are usually consequences such as: grounded, loss of electronics etc. Now let’s talk about adults regarding the same reward system. As a teacher, it is your job to show up to work and teach your students, your main reward is getting paid and making your students successful. If you do not show up to work or do not teach, your punishment is most likely getting fired. There is a reward system for everything and people need to understand that.
Hinchey (2010) uses music to explain the connection in regards to students and the way we think. We tend to only think one way rather than have a variety of different of choices. We like to stay within our comfort zone rather than expand our experiences and try new thing. I am going to struggle with this because I do not know about any cultures other than my own but I am open and read for the opportunity to learn and gain more knowledge.
Blog Post #6
Struggles with Assessment as a Learner
During my schooling, teachers typically used rubrics as an assessment method to grade us. I have always struggled understanding rubrics and their true intention. Throughout elementary and high school, I never had the opportunity to create or help create a grading rubric to be assessed with. My third year of university was the first time that I was ever able to create a rubric based on what I wanted to be marked on. In my opinion, this is something that all teachers should do with their students. I am not saying to do it for every assignment that requires a rubric because they are a lot of work and time consuming, however, if it is a project-based assignment this gives the students an opportunity to be graded on what they think is important. Brookhart (2013) says that rubrics are important because they are supposed to clarify learning targets and the qualities their work should have. I agree with this but I do not think that students have the chance to do so because they are having a hard time understand the concept and the purpose of the rubric. I think it is important to clarify the meaning behind the rubric and word it in kid-friendly language so they know exactly what is expected in terms that they will understand.
Brookhart (2013) mentions that rubrics can be a very helpful tool for teachers and it can help them teach but they need to be done properly so there is no confusion. As a pre-service teacher, I have made a could rubrics for assignments and I understand the struggle teachers have. They are quite difficult to make and it requires a lot of thought if you want to do it properly.
Even though rubrics can be confusing for students at times, they can be a very helpful tool and a great way to learn (Brookhart, 2013). Rubrics are broken up into different categories and level to outline the expectations for an assignment. I think rubrics can help students with understanding and comprehension skills along with reading thoroughly. Once students start to get the hang of the expectations and what goes along with a rubric, it will be easier for them to do what is expected.
Blog Post #7
The article by Claypool and Preston (2011) talks about how teachers can create an atmosphere that allows Indigenous students to succeed in schools and their daily lives. Claypool and Preston (2011) mention that every student needs to find their sense of belonging and purpose in life by connecting with self, family, community and the natural world. When residential schools came along, it took away all of those aspects from an Indigenous child’s life. Bringing Indigenous worldviews and knowledge to the classroom can help bring back what was once lost. Standardized testing has made a negative impact on Indigenous students in the past that still affects them to this day. Indigenous students were forced to write tests based on their second language and their dramatic lifestyle change which negatively impacted their test results (Claypool & Preston, 2011). This reminds me of the article we read by James (2006) talking about principles that underlie assessment. The first example given in the article was about a child with English as their second language and they were secluded in a room with no resources to take a test. This must be how Indigenous children felt when they were forced to take a test with poor English and no help from the teachers.
One of my main concerns regarding Indigenous students is trying to help them gain their sense of belonging in a classroom setting. I think it will be hard for me as a white female to get the respect from Indigenous students who have no respect for teachers. I am hoping that one day I can incorporate a living off the land-based class to help build that connection with the earth again and build relationships with other people. It can also help with their life skills because a lot will used those skills in their daily lives.
Going into my three-week block, I am nervous about the types of assessment that I am going to do with my students. I am not a very good test taker but I find that making a test is one of the easier ways to assess my students. However, I do not really know how effective it would be to do a test because I know a lot of students struggle with tests and it gives them a lot of anxiety. Since I am a physical education teacher, I would like to try and focus my assessment on doing the actual skills needed to perform the tasks rather than trying to base their knowledge and understanding by doing a test.
Some questions that I would like to ask my cooperating teacher would be: What types of assessment do you find most effective in a physical education setting? Do you find it hard to assess each student equally? Once you have assessed your students, is it hard to work one-on-one to help improve their skills?
Blog Post #8
I don’t think that my assessment philosophy has not changed much throughout the semester. I still believe that assessment, classroom environment and instructional practices go hand in hand with each other. I still also believe that all students learn differently especially since I saw this first hand during my three-week block (one week). I noticed that some students learned very well doing hands on learning then some learned really well just by listening. I still believe that it is important to give students a variety of methods to learn from so they can choose which one works best for them and will let them succeed.
After reading Brookhart’s (2013) article about rubrics, I gained a better understanding of how to properly construct a rubric along with knowing some of the struggles I might face due to them. I now understand that they can be very confusing for students but once they understand the purpose of them, they can be very beneficial. Another article that I really connected with was the James (2005) article because it breaks down how different environments and situations can change the results of the assessment. Putting a child in the most ideal situation can help increase their grades and allow them to better on a quiz or assignment. I would find it unfair if I decided to grade a student by secluding them and not allowing them to have any type of resource if English was their second language. Those students are the ones who need more help and more resources in order to get the same opportunity as the other students. The last article that I made a connection with was by Black and William (2003). I one hundred percent agree that descriptive feedback is the most powerful tool for improving students learning (Black and William, 2003). This is extremely important as a teacher to be able to give proper feedback. It can increase the students understanding and grades drastically just by giving them a little extra help after handing in an assignment.
I think a lot of teachers assume that students do not read the feedback that they are given and do not care what you have to say about their work so they decide to never give feedback. I disagree with this because a lot of students do care about what you have to say. Some students might not care because they do not understand the purpose or reasoning behind it and were never taught how to use the feedback that was given. In order to change these assumptions, we need to teach our students from a young age and continue teaching them what feedback is and why it is important. I was never taught about feedback but I wish I would have been because it is a very important tool that can change the outcome of an assignment.