I am a bit concerned about creating my own forms of assessment during my 3 week block, particularly the assessment tools that I will use to grade assignments. There are so many aspects to consider when creating assessment tools. For example, how will I ensure that the rubrics, self assessments, and checklists that I create are useful forms of assessment? I want to ensure that my assessment is meaningful to the students while also ensuring that it hits the outcomes and indicators that I require. There is just so much that goes into creating assessment tools that I am worried that I will get it wrong. However, I suppose that creating assessment tools is something that comes with practice and I look forward to practicing this important skill during my 3 week block.
In addition to the creation of assessment tools, I am also concerned with creating assessments that are unique, exciting, and meaningful to the students in my class. I want the students to be engaged and challenged with the assignments that I create and I am concerned that I will not be creative enough as I go about creating assessments. I would like to incorporate a variety of summative and formative assessments if I am able to. As such, I would like to make these assessments meaningful, interesting, and also in accordance with 21st century competencies. With practice during my 3 week block, I am certain that I will gain a lot of practice with creating new assessments and I will be able to implement the knowledge that I gain as I enter into my internship into the fall.
- The first question that I would like to ask my cooperating teacher about assessment is: “what types of formative assessment do you use in your classroom and what has made these types the most successful?” This question is important, especially as I continue to develop my own assessment philosophy. It will be helpful for me to gain insight into what other teachers are doing in their classrooms in relation to formative assessment and also what the students in her classroom are used to. The answer to this question will guide what types of formative assessment I bring into the classroom and the other forms of formative assessment I could potentially attempt.
- How do you ensure that the assessments you give students are meaningful and engaging? This question is good to ask as it will allow me to create assessment that is more meaningful for my particular classroom, since I have not met the students previously. In addition, the answer to this question will help me to expand my own assessment philosophy.
- How do you incorporate differentiation into assessment in your classroom? This question will give me a general sense of the needs of the particular classroom I will be teaching in for my 3 week block. Also, it will allow me to understand the different ways differentiation can be done within a classroom and the unique strategies of each teacher.
After watching the presentation today in class I was amazed by the unique, creative, and meaningful assessments that my peers came up with! These presentations have shown me that there is no lack of possibility when it comes to assessment. Music, art, and science, can all be combined to achieve a unique and engaging assessment that students can look forward to. Even though I am not majoring or minoring in some of the subject areas that were presented, there is still a lot I can learn from my peers about assessment. Incorporating 21st century competencies into a classroom can be exciting, rewarding, and challenging for students! There is a lot to learn about assessment and it was exciting to see the creativity and passion from my peers as they excitedly explained the assessment and assessment tools that they created. I was inspired by what I saw from my peers and I look forward to being able to implement similar ideas into my future classroom, whether it will be in my 3 week block, internship, or career. Assessment can be more than just a test or an essay and the presentations from my peers have really opened my eyes to the wide range of possibilities that exist for assessment.