What Do You Already Do?
A. After reading through the section titled "What Gives Formative Assessment Its Power?" on pages 7-11, make an inventory of practices and activities you currently use that fall under the umbrella of assessment for learning. Then after reading the section titled "Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning" on pages 11-13, match up your inventory of practices and activities with the seven strategies. A chart has been provided for you (via email) as an organizational tool.
B. With a partner discuss the following questions during your team meeting time on Thursday, Sept. 22nd. Then share your findings as a team. How are your answers similar/different?*What is your definition of Formative Assessment?
*Using the information in the "What Do You Already Do" activity, discuss which strategies you use most often and least often.
*Compare individual responses. Use these to create a team inventory of practices being used. Identify strengths, weaknesses and gaps that you discover in your team practices. (My team is strong in ... My team will work on ....)
Bring these results to the PLC meeting on Sept. 28th.
C. Using the comments link, please post the following findings from your individual information. Postings should be completed by TUES., Sept. 27th.
*Which assessment uses are present in your classroom? Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
*Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
Formative Assessment is any assessment that allows students to maintain focus throughout the duration of a series of lessons or unit, as it informs the teacher as to what areas of the content presented to the students is being mastered, or not mastered. This type of assessment provides teachers with the information to reteach, develop strategies for remediation, or formulate ideas to fill gaps in individual learning.
ReplyDeleteIn my What Do I Already Do Chart, I believe I have three areas of strength. First of all, I am good at pulling the students into the lesson through the I CAN Statements, which allows me to establish a focus daily. Secondly, I am strong in the area of questioning students through class discussions and daily journal formative assessments. Finally, I am good at redirecting the students’ focus through using real-life connections.
Individually, I need to work on the new way of doing Do What? For the past eight years, I have used a series of nine different graphic organizers specifically designed to align with the 12 Power Verbs. It is a hard transition for me, because I had a good amount of success with those graphic organizers, and I am trying to think of creative ways to get the students to buy into the process when I am just learning it myself. EEEEKKKKK!! BUT, it’s all good, I shall overcome!
*Which assessment uses are present in your classroom?
My Classroom Formative Assessments:
• Journal Entries
• Exit/Admit Slips
• Lab Sheets
• Thumbs Up/Down
• Flash Me the Answer (cards that have responses on them C (compound), E (element), M (mixture), ? (Don’t know)
• Checklists
• Observations
• Questioning
• Discussion
• Graphic Organizers
• Peer/Self Assessments (checking in groups)
• Kinesthetic Assessments
• Think Pair Share
• Individual Whiteboards
• Clothesline
*Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
I believe my formative and summative assessment practices are pretty balanced; however, I have areas I can work on like any other teacher. The main area I need to work on, is taking advantage of the technology resources available to me in my school. The clickers are such an awesome way to give students immediate feedback, but I have not been trained on how to create my own tests yet. I need to make this my focus during this school year.
I know my assessment system is balanced when I am able to test my students through formative and summative assessments and see results of student mastery, as well as students having the ability to connect learning to real-life situations.
*Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
My formative assessments are the backbone of my instruction. They are on-going assessments, reviews, and observations in my classroom. I use formative assessments to improve my instructional methods, and to provide my students individual feedback to enhance the process of learning. For instance, when I see that a student, or group of students have not performed well on a formative assessment, it tells me that the concept was not grasped. I can then back pedal a little bit with a quick discussion, or design a review activity to remediate the concept in jeopardy. My formative assessments results are used to direct and/or validate my classroom instruction.
To provide students with clear and understandable targets, I post and discuss the targets and tie them to the power verb.
ReplyDeleteI am better at using examples of strong models because this is what we want students to strive toward. However, there is a great benefit in modeling weak examples, which I will try to do more often.
I offer regular descriptive feedback to students on exit slips, formative assessments, summative assessments, and DO What Notebooks.
Student self-assessment and self-reflection are two areas of weakness for me. I do like the idea of using a KWL chart at the beginning of a unit, and plan to use some of the self-assessment examples from the book.
Allowing students to work on one target at a time provides focus, and allows student and teacher to evaluate where each student is at in the learning process. Focused revision could tie into this by having students evaluate their mistakes or misconceptions. I liked the idea of analyzing the distractor multiple choice questions.
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A. Make an inventory of practices and activities you currently use that fall under the umbrella of assessment for learning.
ReplyDeleteThe practices that I use that fall under the umbrella of "assessment for learning" are:exit slips, in-class activities, summative assessements, group work, and station activities.
1. match up your inventory of practices and activities with the seven strategies. A chart has been provided for you (via email) as an organizational tool.
We have an "I Can" statement posted on the board which we discuss throughout the lesson. The exit slip correlates with the learning target. We post examples of strong work and give non-examples in class. We have a rubric to show what makes a "4" on an open response. I offer written feedback on formative assessments. I offer specific verbal feedback on weak and strong work. I teach students to self assess and give them goals by having them correct their own work and also offer tips to other students when grading their work. I also have students perform test corrections. They must explain why they got each question wrong, what the correct answer is, and why that answer is correct. I focus on deconstructing the standards to create learning targets ("I Can") statements. I also give an exit slip which addresses one learning target. I teach students focused revision through test corrections. I track student learning and advancement in their open response skills through use of the "Do What" notebook.
*What is your definition of Formative Assessment?My definition of formative assessment is assessment for learning. It tells us how they are doing so far. It is a guage of where they are at which helps us drive instruction.
*Using the information in the "What Do You Already Do" activity, discuss which strategies you use most often and least often.
I use "I Can" statements, bell work, and exit slips most often. I unfortunately don't keep track of their learning enough so that they can assess themselves.
My team is strong in ...focused learning targets and examples and models of strong and weak work.
My team will work on ... student self assessments and reflection.
*Which assessment uses are present in your classroom? Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
I try to help make sure that my formative and summative assessment practices are balanced by planning bell work and class activities each day. I give homework about every other day.
*Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
I use formative assessment results to guide my teaching. If students are not getting a concept then I will revisit the topic or back up instruction to spend extra time on it. Formative assessments also help me to determine common mistakes or misconceptions.
Assessment uses in classroom: Formative assessments are used to guage student learning and to direct my teaching.
ReplyDeleteFormative/Summative Assessments, Are they Balanced: No. I do far more formative assessments than I do summative. The formative assessments are my guide on what I need to teach, reteach, or go on with new material. Summative assessments are only used at the end of units.
How do I use formative assessments to improve student achievement? I use formative assessments to plan future bellwork, reteaching, etc. For example, a majority of my students did not get a particular 3 branches of government question so it was bellwork for several days until they reached proficiency. I review on Fridays what was not proficient on Do Whats (my exit slip twice a week), exit slips, or processing activities.
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ReplyDelete*Formative assessment is an ongoing analysis of student learning. It keeps me constantly informed on the content areas that students have or have not mastered.
ReplyDelete*I am data/numbers driven. Therefore, my favorite assesments are Exit/Admit slips with the smart system clickers. I also use 4 corner, thumbs up/down, observation, and graphic organizers.
*The majority of my assesments are formative.
*I use formative assessments to guide my instruction. I keep our data from admit / exit slips and highlight the most missed questions. This gives me a guide in planning future instruction and re-teaching.
Which assessment uses are present in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteThe types of formative assessments that I use in my classroom include: exit slips, do what? Questions that we work to revise, thumbs up thumbs down. With most of the things that students turn in I always try to look at it to make sure that it’s correct. Students are more willing to give me quality work when they know I am looking at it while they wait. Yes this process can be inconvenient, but it works.
Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
I use more formative assessments and summative assessments. My formative assessments are a daily occurring activity where my summative assessments are a final snapshot of learning that occurs at the end of the unit. As far as grading, my summative assessment is counted in the grade book for a significant portion of my grade. Formative assessments, however, are continually corrected and students have the ability to score a perfect on them once they have achieved mastery.
Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
Formative assessments improve student achievement because it allows me to know the information that is not being learned by the students and places accountability on the students to obtain mastery of the topic taught.
Formative assessment is assessment for learning. It is used to gauge where students are in their learning process, and to drive instruction.
ReplyDeleteSome examples of formative assessments that I use are bell work (Daily Oral Language), exit slips, Do-What?, and various types of daily classwork. I feel that my formative and summative assessments are well-balanced. In Language Arts, however, some units take longer to complete, so in some cases I would say I do more formative than summative assessments.
I use formative assessment results to improve student achievement by making sure that I follow up with quick grading and feedback. I try to do this as soon as possible, so that I can go back and clear up misconceptions, or reteach concepts when necessary.
Formative assessment is basically anything you do in class that tells you what your students know, or have learned, and should drive your instructional planning. They tell you if the students have mastered a skill, or if you need to reteach that topic in a new or different way.
ReplyDeleteTypes of formative assessments that my team and I use are: bellwork, class discussion, class observation, projects, exit slips, writing assignments, Do What?, graphic organizers, class activities, labs, homework, classwork, think link testing, quizzes and class tests.
Formative assessment not only helps me to know what my students have not mastered, but gives me the opportunity to provide them feedback. Giving feedback is key. Just seeing a score or grade sometimes is not enough for the student to know what concepts they are lacking. And most students won't seek out the correct answers on their own. So, providing individual and class feedback is essential.
Formative assessment is a tool used to gauge student learning as it occurs and to guide instruction. I use several forms of formative assessment.
ReplyDelete*Thumbs up-thumbs down
*Exit slips
*Flash me the answer
*Bell Work
*Graphic Organizers
*whiteboards
*clicker quiz
These things allow me to follow up with feedback.
My formative and summative assessments are not balanced because I use more formative than summative.
The use of the formative assessments allows me to know where the students misconceptions occur and allow me to readdress them.
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ReplyDeleteOh, one thing I used last year concerning feedback that I believe really motivated my students involved our MAP testing (similar to think link). Before the second and last test, I pulled each student aside and showed them their score, what they needed to get a proficient, and we set a goal for their test. I told my classes that if everyone in the class improved by at least one point, I'd bring a small treat. Then, after the results were in, I wrote each student that improved on a post-it and the number of points they improved. I didn't put their score, just the number of points they improved. Then, I put these post-its all over the outside of my classroom door. The students loved looking for their names, and I only had a handful that did not have their name on my door. I also put a P or D if the student scored in the Proficient or Distinguished range. I left these up when we had parent night, and lots of students brought their parents by to show them their post-it and how many points they had improved.
ReplyDeleteIn my What Do I Already Do Chart, my strong areas are my I Cans, modeling each new concept and group discussions.
ReplyDeleteI need to work on my resource students doing the new Do What? My students struggle with working or thinking outside the box, so this becomes an issue if the prompt asks something more than a single step answer. I really feel like my students will improve with more practice.
*Which assessment uses are present in your classroom?
My Classroom Formative Assessments:
· Exit Slips
· Thumbs Up/Down
· 4 corners
· Observations
· Questioning
· Discussion
· Graphic Organizers
· Peer/Self Assessments (checking in groups)
· Think Pair Share
· Clickers
*Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
I probably do more of the formative assessment than the summative assessment. I still think they are fairly balanced based on what the students need. I have areas I need to work on. The main area I need to concentrate on is the Do What Notebooks. I want to improve my students’ writing abilities and not have them so dependent on a teacher’s guidance.
I know my assessment system is balanced when I see results of every student as well as seeing students being able to apply those concepts outside of the classroom.
*Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
My formative assessments are what drive my instruction. They are given daily in my classroom. I use formative assessments to improve my instruction, and to provide my students individual feedback to improve their learning. My formative assessments results are used to direct my classroom instruction. I will either move onto the next concept or I will reteach the concept, based on the results.
1.Which assessment uses are present in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteFormative
Formative
Graphic organizers
Brain Works
Exits Slips
Observations
Questioning
Probes
Discussion
Flashbacks
POP Quiz
Summative
Unit Test
4- ¼ Unit Quiz
2.Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
I do more with formative assessment, which are mini snap shots than summative which is the big picture. In my thinking the formative guides my teaching lets me know when students are missing steps or not understanding processes. These smaller snapshots will help my students to be successful on the summative assessment. I can ensure this by planning the snapshots from the bigger picture.
3.Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
I take them up and scan through each class. Usually I have students to do an activity for a few minutes. If I see a student has lost its way. I call them up to my desk have a one –on –one session then have them redo the question. If is a larger bunch I revisit by adjusting my lesson plan to recover the material in a different way. I will use that same question again to see if I can move on (IT’S A GREAT DAY! THE MUSIC PLAYS ON...).
Make an inventory of practices and activities you currently use that fall under the umbrella of assessment for learning.
ReplyDeleteThe assessments that I currently use that fall under the umbrella of assessment for learning include: bell work, in class activities, questioning, lab exercises and lab sheets, lab composition notebook journal entries, think pair share, quizzes, and Do What entries.
What is your definition of Formative Assessment?
Formative Assessment is anything I use to track my students learning and guide my teaching.
Using the information in the "What Do You Already Do" activity, discuss which strategies you use most often and least often.
I put my “I can” statement on the board. Students are required to write the “I can” statement in their lab composition notebook. We read the I can before the lesson to explain what we will learn that day. I am weak on always stating why the “I can” or lesson is important. I use examples and models of strong work by using my document camera to project and go over student’s examples. I do not model weak work (from the students) but I sometimes will verbally model weak work (especially when doing the Do What). I offer regular descriptive feedback by monitoring activities and labs and by walking around correcting and guiding their work. I also read bell work which I often use as a flashback to ensure students have learned prior lessons. I will individually counsel students to clear up misconceptions and reteach if necessary. When assessment identifies a need to adjust instruction, I reteach and allow students to practice in smaller segments. My current lessons are from LEAPS and focus on one or two learning targets at a time. I am not strong at teaching students to self-assess and set goals. I do use feedback to model the kind of evaluative thinking I want students to be able to do themselves but I am not sure they actually read the feedback comments. I do use bell work and “Do What” as a flashback to reflect on learning however I am weak ion having them share their achievement with others.
Which assessment uses are present in your classroom? Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this? I use the formative assessment to guide my learning targets and summative assessment. I constantly look back at the formative assessment to ensure my lessons are focused on the “big picture”. I use the summative assessment to guide my pace and areas that need to be retaught. I do think they are somewhat balanced however, I usually cover more in my summative assessment than I cover on my formative assessment.
Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement. I give quizzes and tests using the clickers. This offers immediate feedback and allows me to see the scores for all students. It gives me a breakdown of which questions were missed by more than half the class. This information allows me to see what areas need to have adjusted instruction.
The formative assessment types that are present in my classroom are: Exit slips with and without clickers, thumbs up/down, individual whiteboards, checklists, classroom discussion, and classroom observations. I frequency of my formative assessment far outweighs my summative assessments. I try to do some type of formative assessment every day. My summative assessments are quizzes or unit test.
ReplyDeleteI use the results from my formative assessment to guide my teaching. Some formative assessments let me know that the class as a whole does not understand a target and I then know that I need to back up and review that target. On the flip side of that I also know that the class is ready to move on to the next target. Also I know if I need to have individual conversations with students about misconceptions or targets that they truly do not get the target and need additional support.
I post my student targets daily. We discuss where we were the day before and where we are today. Many times they brainstorm ideas of how to transition from one topic to the next. Example, if we studied adding fractions with unlike denominators the day before, I will have them give me one sentence using math vocab describing how TODAYS topic of subtracting unlike denominators is similar . I also use teacher generated notes with matching or blanks to fill in that also have the targets posted on them, that we fill out together on new material. I post all the targets on board during quizzes. We also reference the targets as a class.
ReplyDeleteI do allow students to look at others' work confidentially... and they rate it 1-4. These are not from students in their class period.
I often walk around the room as the students are practicing and correct misunderstandings immediately. I reteach as necessary with one or two at a time.
Students self assess all quizzes and tests. They have time to reflect and correct.
The assessments that are present in my classroom, frequently, are flashbacks/bell-work, exit slips, quizzes, thumbs Up/thumbs Down, unit tests, and occasionally a culminating activity. When I began making a list of assessments I use, I noticed that the formative and summative are not balanced. I use formative assessments much more often than summative. This is because I use the formative assessment almost daily to gage my students' progress and guide my teaching. To improve student achievement, I use the formative assessments to determine if I need to spend more time on a topic (target) as a whole class or if I can work with one or two students with remediation to help them be successful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cheryl's comments about using Formative Assessment much more in a classroom than Summative Assessments. Formative assessments are used daily to see if a student gets the target and is on track, while summative is the end of unit product analysis. Some examples of formative assessments I incorporate into my lessons, include: Bell Work, Exit Slips, Do Whats, Culture Posters & Bags, 4 corners, gallery walks, pair sharing, peer assessment grading, oral presentations, inside/outside circle, graphic organizers, lots of hands on activities like creating maps and landforms on index cards, and many other strategies, etc!!!! Through the use of these various formative assessments, I can see where my students are to make sure we are all on the same track and working towards the same goals and targets.
ReplyDelete*What is your definition of Formative Assessment?
ReplyDeleteAn assessment that will help me guide my instruction to meet my students needs.
*Using the information in the "What Do You Already Do" activity, discuss which strategies you use most often and least often.
Most Often: I can statements (daily), Bell Work (daily), Exit Slips, Notebook Checks, Do/What’s, Thumbs up and Thumbs down, and Probes are my most used formative assessments.
Least Often: Self-Assessments this is something I really need to work on and build more confidence in using.
*Which assessment uses are present in your classroom?
I can statements (daily), Bell Work (daily), Exit Slips, Notebook Checks, Do/What’s, Thumbs up/Thumbs down, and Probes are my most used formative assessments.
Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
I try and have a formative assessment daily if not every other day this is to insure my students gain knowledge to advance them to success on summative assessments and I give 1 summative assessment at least every 2 weeks. My formative assessments are like target practice to make sure my students can achieve their final goal the summative assessment it is for this reason that I say my assessments are balanced. I also use clickers to provide students with immediate feedback on both formative and summative assessments.
*Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
I use formative assessment to see what information I need to re-cover either that day or the next and maybe even later that week at a time when I feel this topic would be easily reintroduced. Again they are my target practice for the summative event.
The formative assessments I use are: exit slips,
ReplyDeletebellringers(based on previous lesson) quick checks, daily work, peer/self assessments, pair/share, observations, and quizzes.
I'm not sure my summative/formative assessments are really balanced, only having students for 9 weeks makes me feel like I need to make sure I get the content to them and sometimes my summative assessment time suffers. I assess formatively to make sure they are getting the content before moving on, as a great deal of my content builds on previous content. Also since a large amount of my content is real life application I use some of those real life activities as assessments.
C. Using the comments link, please post the following findings from your individual information. Postings should be completed by TUES., Sept. 27th.
ReplyDelete*Which assessment uses are present in your classroom?
*Observations, Social Skills lessons, Social Skills role play, class discussions, one-on-one instruction.
Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
I have much more formative assessment in my classroom. We work on social skills activities in the classroom frequently and the summative assessment is how they apply them in the regular classroom.
*Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
The results of the formative assessment I use in my classroom gives the students immediate feedback. The results of the formative assessment tells me if and how they are understanding the lessons.
What is your definition of Formative Assessment?
ReplyDeleteAn assessment that checks the understanding of students from what I intended to give them.
Using the information in the "What Do You Already Do" activity, discuss which strategies you use most often and least often.
Most Often: Targets, Exit Slips, Graphic Organizers
Least Often: Porch Activities
Which assessment uses are present in your classroom?
The types of formative assessments that use in my classroom are exit slips, MANY graphic organizers, creating study aids via index cards, and quick clicker questions to gauge current understanding before moving on in the lesson.
Since my units are 6 weeks long, I use clicker quizzes to chunk the information being taught and to use for re-teaching opportunities. Clicker quizzes are the best way to provide instant feedback and to compare results across periods.
Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
I use more formative assessments than summative assessments. I use my lesson plans to plan my approach to assessments.
Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
I use Formative Assessments to check myself as a teacher which results in higher student achievement. For me, exit slips provide opportunities to check understanding and bring to the surface misunderstandings about the content. We just can’t assume they received what we intended to give. We have to check that process.
Which assessment uses are present in your classroom?
ReplyDelete-Formative Assessments I use are Do What; Exit Slips, and Observations with Anecdotal Notes.
- Summative Assessments I use are: Weekly Quizzes, and Unit Assessments
Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
- I think that for formative and summative assessments to be “balanced” they need to be strategically proportional and guide my instruction. I give a formative assessment nearly every day in my classroom. I use the results and data from those formative assessments to immediately adjust me instruction for that day or the next. I give a summative quiz at the close of every week to gage where the students are; do they understand the current target, or is more instruction needed. The summative assessments, too, adjust me instruction. The unit test will inform if the students have learned the smaller targets under the whole unit.
Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement:
- The formative assessments can improve students performance by the way I apply those results in adjustments I make to me instruction, and by the time that I can use to give the students feedback about the results on the formative assessments.
Formative assessments present in my classroom are exit slips, show of hands, observations and flashbacks.
ReplyDeleteSummative assessments present in my classroom are quizzes, pretests and unit tests.
I feel that the formative and summative assessments in my classroom are well balanced for a nine week rotation schedule.
My formative assessments allow me to find out how each individual student is comprehending the content and exposes misunderstandings. This information allows me to understand where to modify how the material is delivered so that the students will have a higher chance of achievement.
Formative assessments that I use in my classroom include:
ReplyDelete• Flashbacks
• Exit Slips
• Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down
• Show of hands
• Observations
Summative assessments that I use in my classroom include:
• Quizzes
• Unit Assessments
I don’t think that my formative and summative assessments are well balanced in my classroom. I do a daily flashback Monday through Thursday. I check them in class, but give the students an opportunity to correct them. On Friday I give a Flashback quiz. I record the Flashback quiz in the grade book.
Formative assessments allow me to see how each student is understanding the content as well as what misunderstandings they might be having.
The formative assessments I use in the classroom are the common ones that most everyone has already mentioned.
ReplyDelete• Bellwork
• Graphic organizers
• Observations
• Discussions
• Do What ?s
• Reading Journal Checks/Journal entries
• Think Pair Share
• Quizzes (with and without clickers)
I believe that formative assessments help me to see what the students understand or are struggling with and when they have mastered the content. I would like to think that my formative and summative assessment practices are balanced, but I say this only because I use formative assessments daily and summative assessments only at the end of the unit or book we are reading. In using the formative assessments to guide my teaching, then I should be able to witness student mastery of the concept(s) on the summative assessment.
Like Carla stated, I love that the clickers provide instant feedback and now that I have the kinks worked out will be using those more and more.
Which assessment uses are present in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteI use exit slips, quizzes, bell work/flashbacks, thumbs up, thumbs down, individual white boards, self-assessment, open responses, unit tests, station practice, observation (while students work in class), discussion with students as they practice, four corners, and clickers.
Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
No. I definitely use more formative assessment than summative. I have been trying to incorporate one summative assessment a week in the form of a quiz. However, I use formative assessment daily to determine if we are ready for summative assessment.
Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
With the new standards in math this year we are blessed with more time to cover content. This has allowed me to spend more time on specific content and the formative assessments help me adjust the schedule daily based on student needs. I also use formative assessment to determine if a few students need more one-on-one help with the content or if the whole class needs remediation.
Which assessment uses are present in your classroom?
ReplyDeleteI use a variety of both formative and summative assessments in my classroom. In regards to my formative assessments, there are some that I use on a regular or more frequent basis. These include:
• Bellwork
• Exit slips
• Thumbs up/Thumbs down
• Questioning
• Guided notes for students with the
introduction of new material
• The use of the classroom
whiteboard in order to have students
complete math problems/bellwork problems
• Individual student whiteboards
• Individual student conferencing with
assignments to check for understanding
during class
• Learning checks from Smartboard notebook programs
There are also other formative assessments that I use perhaps not as often. Sometimes the use of these assessments is dependent on availability in the classrooms that I am working in. These include:
• Do What for my reading class
• Clickers
• Smartboard lessons
• Student self assessment
• Rubrics
I am currently working on incorporating the use of more rubrics as a formative and summative assessment for my students. The clear expectations provided by the rubrics are helpful to my students and increases understanding.
My summative assessments include the use of tests and fluency checks provided by our reading program and also tests, quizzes, rubrics, clicker questions and projects for other subjects.
Are your formative and summative assessments balanced-how do you/ can you ensure this?
As I have been working on this blog comment, it is very apparent to me now that my assessments are not balanced. I need to work on finding more and different types of summative assessments that I can use. I also believe that although listed as formative assessments, there are several that I can use for dual purposes. I can also increase my use and type of student projects for summative assessments.
Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
I use formative assessments to help drive my classroom instruction and help develop lessons for my students. For example, if I find that my students exhibit difficulty with a concept when using formative assessment, I can then reteach the concept or break the concept down into smaller chunks.
My class is a formative assessment driven classroom. I try to do 2 to 3 formative assessments within the course of every class. This can range from a simple thumbs up thumbs down, to a commit and toss activity, clicker quiz etc.
ReplyDeleteI frequently use admit/exit slip "quizzes" as both formative and summative assessments. I use FAR more formative assessments than I do summative. This helps me to frequently gauge where my class stands, and judge if they are ready for the summative assessment.
The commit and toss activity is especially effective as it gives a chance to view other people's work anonymously, and find what mistakes others may make.
I use both formative and summative assessments in my classroom. Some examples that work well for me are finger voting, think, pair, share, four corners, exit slips, and using graphic organizers to analyze characters. One method that I plan to implement is using charts to track mastery of concepts and skills presented individually, as in student notebooks, and for the class as a whole, on the board in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the balance of formative and summative assessment is close in my classroom, I’m sure the scale is tipped in favor of formative, because to me, that is the messy space, the real learning and working area, when I am reviewing and refining my teaching to accommodate student needs and a mode of monitoring success. Although I do give periodic quizzes, one way that I plan to try and balance out the scales in the future is in giving these more frequently, as more informal, but still summative, assessments.
After I introduce a skill or concept by modeling for students, often using our shared core novel as a jumping off point, I give them an opportunity to practice with me and peers in small learning communities using literature circle material. During this time, they can evaluate their own learning and that of others through group discussion, as can I, as facilitator in monitoring the groups in action. Later, I require student to again practice this skill or concept in their independent reading, and I score the results as in informal summative assessment. Sometimes, I might add a quiz at this point.
Eventually, after many formative assessments as learning opportunities, students are given an opportunity to demonstrate their mastery on a summative assessment, such as a culminating project or a classroom test. Throughout the learning process, feedback is given to specific students who aren’t mastering skills and concepts and I implement various reteaching tools. One reteaching tool that works well for me is in peer tutoring with a student who has previously demonstrated mastery of the particular skill or concept.
Like all my fellow teachers, I also use a wide variety of formative assessments in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteWarm Ups/Bellwork
Reading Journal Entries- these include questioning and reflections
Exit/Admit Slips
Thumbs Up/Down (or other variations like Stand Up/Sit Down)
Graphic Organizers
Discussion
Think/Pair/Share
Observations
Do What’s
Nonfiction Article Connections (text-to-text, text-to-self connections and reflections)
Word Study
Quizzes
I also have just started using Study Island for assessment and I think it is going to be a valuable tool for my classroom. We have been working on Context Clues and Multiple Meaning words and from their Warm Up’s and Exit Slips, they seemed to be excelling in both topics. However, when we came to the library and got on SI, I found that multiple meaning words were giving them fits, while context clues were not. This enabled me to reexamine my lessons and see what I could change to help them master multiple meaning words just as much as they have context clues. I found that I had not focused on homophones as much as SI did, and so multiple meaning words that are pronounced different in different contexts and therefore mean something totally different as well, were really messing with the majority of my students. Because I discovered this, I was able to redirect my teaching by focusing on multiple meaning words instead of immediately moving on to main idea. My Warm Ups now focus on MMW, and if I continue to see improvement, I will retest my students, and “fingers crossed,” they will master it as well as they have context clues.
I know I use more formative assessments then summative, but formative assessments help guide my lessons and gauge where my students are at and where we need to be going. I save the summative assessments for Unit Tests over core novels and/or at the end of my Study Island Units. However, as I said above, sometimes even summative assessments need reevaluating; and in the case of multiple meaning words---reteaching.
I use many different formative assessments on a day-to-day basis that continue to shape and direct my teaching. One area that I have found to be effective is with my bell ringer journal. I call this my “Do Now” and we complete this on alternate days of our “Do What” notebooks. The "Do Now" is a flashback to complete upon entering the room. I use this opportunity to spiral skills from prior lessons or to ask students to journal about a life experience that might help them to make a connection with today's lesson.
ReplyDeleteAnother formative assessment I use on a daily basis is the Conversation Café. This helps gauge student comprehension and allows students to ask questions about content that they don’t fully understand. This is a time for creative redundancy reinforcing lesson content. It is also a time when many students make a lot of self to self, self to text, and self to world connections.
Other formative assessments that I use include
*Exit Slips
*Thumbs Up/ Thumbs Down
*Finger Vote
*Stand Up/ Sit Down (agree or disagree)
*Brain Spills
*Discussion
*Anecdotal Notations
*Peer/ Self Assessment
*Lost and Found Box
*Self-Correction
*Pre-assessment Surveys
Most of the assessments that I use are formative assessments. Because much of our content is subjective, I actually am challenged at times to come up with the appropriate number of summative assessments on a weekly basis. This is an area I hope to develop. Like others have stated, I hope to gain proficiency on the clickers along with other technology support. J
My definition of formative assessment is one that is used for guide the students learning, as well as showing the teacher where the students are, and where they need additional instruction.
ReplyDelete1. For setting goals and students knowing what they are learning, each of team, as well as myself, post the learning targets and refer to those often.
2. For using strong and weak work, myself and the team use strong work as examples, but fall short on using weak work. I guess we have always thought about posting proficient and distinguished work, but have not thought about using the non-examples(weak) work. This is an area that we as a team will need work at more.
3. Offering regular feedback, is something that we will do on tests or projects, but his also something that may get left behind when we feel that we run out of time. I will need to work a little more at providing this more often.
4. I have used the multiple choice self analysis. Also, our science notebooks allows for some time for students to think about their learning. My team said that this is a weaker area as a whole, and something to work on.
5. Our PLC and unit deconstructions have helped us a great deal with making sure we stick to learning targets, and that our assessments are aligned to them.
6. During our science lessons, we provide time for them to go back and revise their learning through bellwork, Do What? entries, and in their science notebooks. My team felt that sometimes ties back into #4, and is a little weak as a whole.
7. This was one of my weakest areas in the past, but since we have been doing student test analysis, and the Leaps program, I have incorporated this strategy a little more. I still need to improve this as to how to guide the students retain long term information and learning. As a whole team, we felt that we do provide students with several opportunities to do this.
Formative assessment is anything that lets you know if the student has learned the content, or if you need to reteach it. I use Daily Geography, Do What, Pair/Share, quizzes, observations, etc. I use formative assessment daily and give a summative test at the end of each unit.
ReplyDeleteFormative assessment simply Forms what you teach..I utilize many things without thinking about them as formative assessments.
ReplyDeleteTargets are in the "I Can" statements as well as in my openings of..."Here's our to-do list for the day...."
Formative assessments are inate..They are things that I think good teachers just do...thumbs up, rocks rattlin..eye contact,facial expressions, body gestures as well as ones that have a paper trail...flashbacks, worksheets, quizzes, exit slips, comment cards...It's an awareness of what is or isn't going on in your room at any given moment..formative assessments allow us to check in on whether or not our students are following us on the trail we try to hard to set ablaze or the hidden one for which we sometimes just leave breadcrumbs.
Feedback, whether formal or informal is a good teachers' way of determining just how deep that information went or still needs to go.
Projects in my room allow for reflection and self assessment as well as open and leading conversations that my kids hate and I love...I get a little kick out of it when they ask me "Why won't you just give me the answer?!" The expression and the questions is common when I require them to think it through rather than just giving it to them outright. My former resource teacher taught me that one! (thanks jeannie harper)
Informal formative assessments are my strong point..I just don't think so much about it. Creating that paper trail is a little more difficult because I don't always take the time to "label" what I do as a specific strategy.
We have to be time concious all the time in Exloratory...I guarantee you, we all always run out of it in 45 days...so reflection is a weak point for us as a whole...but we're working on trying to implement more labels of things we already automatically do... :)j
In my classroom, we do formative assessment activities every day; sometimes several in one class period. So far this year, my students have done the following formative assessments:
ReplyDelete- Daily Oral Language sentence correction (bell work)
- Exit Slips
- Graphic Organizers (venn diagrams, t-charts, webs, etc.)
- Do-what open response notebooks
- Brain Pop Quizzes (students hold up cards with their answers on them)
- Meet the teacher (students work with a partner to write a response to a question and the pair come up to read what they wrote, allowing the teacher to give them immediate feedback)
- Character Thought Bubbles (what a character is thinking at various points in a story)
- Think-Pair-Share
- Class Discussions
- Observations
- Circulating
- Questioning
- Think Link (DEA) Probes
- Group and peer conferencing
- Student Blog Comments (on our classroom blog)
- Projects (usually incorporating art!) using rubrics
- Interactive computer games online
- Study Island
I think that my assessments are somewhat balanced, but could be more balanced. I think that formative assessments should occur daily, and summative assessments should be less often (after students have had multiple opportunities for content mastery). I have only given one unit test this year, so I feel like I should try to make my instructional units smaller.
I used to focus on the whole group when analyzing formative assessment results, but I have learned (at least for my students) that a one-on-one approach is best for reaching the students who need extra assistance. Speaking directly to them about something that they have done (instead of just addressing the class as a whole) is more effective at getting their attention and helping them hit the target.
Formative assessments are used to guide student learning and classroom instruction. They are used to inform me of content mastery, content misconceptions and areas of weakness/strengths.
ReplyDeleteI do not use formative assessment s as bell ringers or exit slips only; I incorporate discussions, class work and visual arts as formative assessments as well (just to name a few). “I can” statements are utilized to maintain focus on the formative assessments. Formative assessments are the “pretest” before the summative assessment.
I know the area that I need to be more diligent is student self-assessment and self-reflection. Reflection and self-assessment would give students more responsibility for their learning and identify their areas of strengths and weakness. Understanding their weaknesses and strengths would help students set personal goals for improvement.
Formative Assessments in my classroom include: bell ringers, exit slips, discussion, visual arts, interactive student notebooks, Do What? Notebooks, graphic organizers, peer/self-assessment, interactive technology, quizzes, Study Island and Discovery Education
Are my formative and summative assessments balanced? Yes, BUT… language arts content is not as black and white as math and units at times take longer to complete. Formative assessments are used more than summative assessments.
My formative assessments are used to design instruction in my classroom. I use the information from the formative assessments to determine if re-teaching is needed, time frames and mastery of content. I also learn how I am doing as a teacher.
*Which assessment uses are present in your classroom? Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
ReplyDelete*Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
I always think of formative assessments as checking the oil level in your car. It's something you might want to do often so that you can make sure that your engine is working correctly. You are probably going to do it before your regular oil change down at the local Jiffy Lube (summative assessment).
I think formative assessments are needed so that we can see what is working and what is not working in our classroom. It's the measuring stick we use to determine where we need to go in the future with our students.
I use several different formative assessments in my class such as exit slips, thumbs up/down, deal or no deal, do what notebooks, interactive notebooks, classroom discussion, teacher observation, and graphic organizers like Venn diagrams and Frayer models. I feel that formative assessments should be used almost daily to determine where we stand as successful teachers, so I will often have many more formative assessments as compared to summative assessments.
I use both types of assessments in my classroom. However, I know that I use formative assessment much more often than I do summative assessments in my class. Formative assessment is a tool to use to see where your students are and how to design your instruction based on the information found in the formative assessments.
ReplyDeleteThe types of formative assessments I use are: bell-work/flashbacks, exit slips, Do-What, observations and Thumbs Up/Thumbs down. I also walk around during group work and individual work time and use a check-sheet as formative assessment.
I use the data from the formative assessments to inform me of what my students understood or didn’t understand. Then, I use that information to go back and re-teach based upon the needs of my students.
Formative assessment should be used to guide instruction. As a teacher, this means that I must be flexible in my instructional approaches in order to use formative assessments effectively. This is a sample of the formative assessments I frequently use in my classroom:
ReplyDeleteFlashbacks
Thumbs Up/Down
Up/Downs
Questioning
Discussion
Graphic Organizers
Peer/Self Assessments (checking in groups)
Think Pair Share
Show of Hands
Commit and Toss
Summative assessments are used to indicate mastery of content and are usually used at the end of a unit. Summative assessments that I frequently use are:
Weekly Quizzes
Unit Assessments
My assessments are not especially balanced because I think that formative assessments should occur multiple times throughout a lesson, whereas summative assessments should be used less often, usually to indicate mastery of content. I don't particularly feel that I need to increase the amount of summative assessments I use to "balance" the two because my goal is to know if my students are learning "in the moment", which formative assessments help me to know. Summative assessments generally help me to know what my students can recall after a specific amount of time. And if I have used formative assessments effectively and meaningfully, students have a better quality of understanding and recall.
Formative Assessment is an assessment that follows instruction and provides feedback throughout the teaching and learning process to show where our students are in terms of understanding.
ReplyDeleteIn my classroom I use bell-work/flashbacks, exit slips, Do-What, ThinkLink Probes, Study Island Probes, Quick Draw with dry-erase boards, Thumbs Up/Thumbs down, and check-sheets that I use when observing students.
The results from the formative assessment show me what I need to reteach and what content the students are understanding.
Formative assessment is assessment used for learning and teaching. It helps in assessing what the students have learned about the content. It also helps to guide your future lessons and instruction.
ReplyDeleteFormative assessments that I use are Bell Ringers (Daily Oral Language), Do What? Strategies and student response clickers. I feel that I need to do additional summative assessments because I tend to do more formative assessments than summative assessments.
I use formative assessment results to improve student achievement and to develop future lesson plans and activities and to re-teach if necessary.
Formative assessment is a check during teaching to see how students are grasping the content or how many of the students are getting it. In my class, we have been reviewing for the EXPLORE and so the students have been taking quizzes as we review each content area. Later on in the class, I will be using exit slips, comprehension quizzes, and agree/disagree type of activities. I use these activities to help them improve test taking and reading skills.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your definition of Formative Assessment?
ReplyDeleteFormative assessment is anything that allows me to gather data and determine what my students know, understand, or where they still need explanation or practice.
Using the information in the "What Do You Already Do" activity, discuss which strategies you use most often and least often.
Most often--Flashbacks, questioning, exit slips, and Do What organizer.
Least Often--self assessment, reflection
Are your formative and summative assessment practices balanced -- how do you/can you ensure this?
I use formative assessment much more often than summative. I want to know if I should move on or continue with the same idea in a different manner.
Explain how you use Formative Assessment results to improve student achievement.
Formative assessment guides what do the next day. If I see that my students are not catching on to the lesson or concept, I teach it differently the next day or add an activity.
Formative assessments are used during teaching to prepare students for success on the summative assessment. They are used when a new concept is being taught. I use bell work, reinforcement sheets, directed reading sheets, laboratory activities, quizzes, reading(pair share), question/answer sessions, and any other outside resource that helps my students prepare for the summative assessment.
ReplyDeleteDuring the unit, I will use many formative assessments for each concept taught in order to balance with what is given on the unit test. I like to think that I have a good balance between formative and summative assessments.
Formative assessments are the road map to success on the final exam.
What gives formative assessment its power? If used correctly, student responsibility for learning is developed and encouraged. Assessments are used for reteaching/enriching student learning, for planning flexible groups, and for differentiating instruction. The comprehensive review of research on formative assessment practices reveals achievement gains realized by students whose teachers rely on formative assessment can range from 15 to 25 percentile points!!!
ReplyDeleteI feel like one of my strengths in teaching physical education is my bellringer, or as I call it my "Instant Activity." This requires students to instantly begin performing specific skills or activities prior to any instruction. Formative assessment is still in the works as I continue to become more comfortable and better prepared for this particular level of learning. Even though I do spend some time on student self-reflection, it is not nearly as much time as I would like. Only having students for 9 weeks at a time while teaching two distinct content areas significantly decrease availability for self-reflection on the part of the student.
ReplyDeleteBlogging is a new experience for me, but I have found that reading the comments from all of our staff has been a rewarding experience. So many of us have had two great opportunities ... To continue to be a "learner" by using strategies shared by our peers that have worked (or not worked) which will help us improve our instruction AND to have the chance to be the teacher leader who is being a HUGE influential partner in leading our school to success. I encourage you to continue to focus on the positive outcomes of using formative assessment to guide your instruction.
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