I like to use a combination of assessment strategies to get a well rounded view of how my students are understanding a concept. I like to assess using work samples and observations of participation and effort to augment information I get from more formal assessments. In math this week I have been using homework as a way to check in on mastery of concepts from the day, however this always presents a more rosey view of student progress than may be accurate, as parents are helping kids with homework. I can't always get around to everyone during worktime to check in class work, as I am usually working with a small group, so I try to do quick checks on understanding during the lesson. I like to ask for thumbs up, sideways or down to have students show me if things are making sense. If I do this during the lesson, I know who I need to see individually during worktime.
I also give the formal unit assessments to all students at the end of a chapter. As I corrected these yesterday I was not surprised by the results. Students did pretty much as I had expected based on my previous assessments.
To place some educational jargon around your assessment reflection, I can say that you're using a mix of formative and summative strategies to get a big picture understanding of students' learning. It's important to recognize the value of both approaches (assessment happening in the moment when feedback can shape learning, and assessment after the fact that allows for feedback about patterns and goal-setting.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings up another topic--we can assess students' work at different points in the learning cycle, but how do we give feedback that moves learning forward?