Please read Chapter Two in the Seven Strategies book and be prepared to discuss by Monday, October, 24th. More details to come ...
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Let’s link our work from chapter one which focuses on formative assessment and chapter two which focuses on learning targets. Bring three learning targets and what you used to formatively assess your students to your team meeting on TUESDAY, NOV. 1st. As a TEAM, discuss the targets. Decide if the targets are clearly defined and student-friendly as they are. Help revise any targets that are not clearly defined and student friendly. Look at the formative assessments used to gauge the student learning of these targets. Evaluate the effectiveness of the assessment to the target ... Are the two congruent? Does the assessment allow for self assessment by the student on their level of achievement toward the target?
INDIVIDUALLY please address the following on the blog using the comments link by WEDNESDAY, NOV. 9th.
As we have learned sharing the learning target with our students is important to our instructional process and to student learning. "Reading the target" at the beginning of the lesson is relatively easy. The harder part is embedding and weaving the target throughout our instruction while also linking it to effective formative assessment. (Assessment which helps the student and the teacher "know" what they " know" and/or what they need to work on). Please share how you do this well and/or what you have learned from our discussions and how you plan to improve in this area.
What we have learned when using formative assessment (specifically graphic organizers) I can see at a glance whether the students understand and can “see” misconceptions. This enables me to address “trouble” areas on the spot it also helps direct my instruction and in addition to this provides the students opportunities to self and peer assess. In using a graphic organizer to classify we were able to quickly see student understanding of fiction/non-fiction, and internal/external conflict.
ReplyDeleteMy resource students have difficulty comprehending graphic organizers. I always preface my teaching by modeling the graphic organizer. Many of my students are very verbal:) and auditiory learners so often we do a lot of discussion. This discussion time helps me assess students who have difficulty with written expression.
ReplyDeleteWhat we have learned when using formative assessment (specifically graphic organizers) I can see at a glance that the students whether the students understand and can “see” misconceptions. This enables me to address “trouble” areas on the spot it also helps direct my instruction and in addition to this provides the students opportunities to self and peer assess. In using a graphic organizer to classify we were able to quickly see student understanding of fiction/non-fiction, and internal/external conflict.
The targets that I chose to use for this assignment are as follows:
ReplyDelete*I can define an element.
*I can identify groups of elements with similar properties.
*I can use reactivities to classify substances into like reactivity groups.
For the first target, the students did an activity called “Periodic Table Basics." The students chose an element and gave its proton, neutron, and electron number. We then placed the electrons in the correct energy levels.
The second activity was a coloring activity based on the elements in the periodic table needed to sustain life. In this particular activity, we looked at like and unlike properties of elements. Finally, we did a reactivity lab to identify substances ability to react with H20 and HCL.
I felt that all three targets were student friendly. Each activity matched well with the target.
I made a point throughout instruction to "link" the activity to the target, physically going to the board and re-reading the target.
At the end of class, students share comments about the activities that help me to "know what they know."
Like most of us, I have an extremely wide range of abilities I teach. My resource class is one of the most difficult. I have found that modeling and visual representations have been most effective with this group. I can verbally ask my exit slip and they do much better than if they have to put their thoughts on paper. With my higher students, hands on activities work very well. An "ah ha" moment I observed happened during a lab in science class. The students had heard the target, had discussed the target, but when they did the lab they were like "Oh, now I get it". At the end of class the lab was used as an example when the target was reviewed. A mixture of strategies seems to work best.
ReplyDeleteAlso, many times you can look around the room and make a quick assessment by the looks on the student's faces. These looks can lead to questions that can very much drive instruction. Not all formative assessments need to be formal. I plan to be more proactive in assessing my students during my instruction, not just after.
You are correct “"Reading the target" at the beginning of the lesson is relatively easy.” I have found this has become a part of my daily routine. But I find other ways of inserting the target. I have the student write the target in their science notebooks as a form of procedure. People remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they hear and see. I try to mention it at least 2-3 more times during the lab activity ( students remember 75% of what they discuss with others, and 90% of what they explain to others) before I link it to their formative assessment. I find formative assessment as a valued tool that guides my instruction. It gives me great insight to what my students are really thinking and where I might have lost them. I just did a “Stop/Rewind/Reinforce/Re-Quiz Day” Last week I found from my formative assessment that most students did not get the concept.
ReplyDeleteFormative assessment is essential to our student’s success in the classroom. It should guide our instruction to meet the needs of our students. It enables me to know who has mastered the concept, who had minor errors or misconceptions that can be easily addressed, and who needs me to re-teach the content in a different so they can master the target. During do what notebook days I review exit slips at my desk. I start with those who had misconceptions and try to address that quickly at my desk with corrections due at the end of the period, next I pass back the perfect papers so they know they mastered the concept, and then I pass out tutoring slips stapled to their exit slip to work with specific students during my planning on these types of problems so they can learn the correct procedure to master the concept.
ReplyDeleteFormative Assessment is very easy to add to our lesson plans weekly, but to differentiate ways to keep all of our students learning at the same pace is the difficult task. I agree with Cheryl that modeling is a valuable tool with students of this age. I like the gradual release mixed with the modeling, I do, we do, you do. Also, Donna thought the use of graphic organizers was very effective. I agree with this. I have started using these to compare various regions, resources, landforms, economies, etc and the students decided what is important enough to list in these boxes, and then we use their ideas for our study guides for open response test. They like having the ablility to design their own study guides. Graphic organizers are a good way to compare things and allow students to see similarities and differences in places and things. Then, you have a study guide to use for your Summative Assessment also. So it is good way to evaluate two fold.
ReplyDeleteOne target I used was “I can explain how culture defined groups in Ancient Egyptian society. In the first activity, the students listened to the section information via audio CD. Students used a graphic organizer to bullet notes about government and religion. After listening the student’s pair/shared their findings. The students completed a note-taking sheet in their Interactive Student Notebook and did a processing activity on classifying which was hands on with labeling, coloring, cutting, and pasting in their ISN. The exit slip was a pyramid- the students had to write in the social order of Ancient Egypt. I was able to quickly look at their pyramids to see who had an understanding of the target.
ReplyDeleteMy three targets were:
ReplyDelete--I can distinguish between velocity from speed.
--I can predict changes in motion when the force acting on it changes.
--I can distinguish between constant velocity and changing velocity, using graphs.
I understand that for EVERY learning target, there must be a formative assessment given daily in order for effective teaching to take place. This activity aided me in sorting through the formative assessments I created for these targets, to judge whether they were an effective means of gathering information for driving my instruction in my classroom. The formative assessments used for these targets pointed out gaps and misconceptions in students' minds as to the differences between position/time and velocity/time graphs. This skill is not only essential for CATS testing situations, but for the Explore testing. Therefore, I made several sets of flashcards to be used by the students in the next few weeks, which have pictures of graphs and answers on the back. Students will be able to self-assess. This will allow students to move at his/her own pace.
Like any other resource teacher knows, written formative assessments can be painful. The resource kids are very unique in their learning skills and have difficulties putting down their thoughts on paper. If I had time, I would scribe for all of them to ensure they “have it,” but unfortunately, there just isn’t enough time in a day. Everything must be read to them, so it is much easier and effective to assess verbally. I’ve learned from my reflection that I must first ask students verbal questions based on what I think they know so it will prompt success. This helps in building confidence so they will be surer of themselves when they answer questions. Then I’ll ask another questions that involves a deeper thinking. In world history class I give them multiple-choice questions. I can see quickly which students answered correctly. In my reflections I’ve learned that it is better to make a student who did not get the answer right to explain why it wasn't right and correct their answer. This provides self-assessment for the student and a quick re-teaching lesson.
ReplyDeleteI have learned with resource students that writing is a painful process for them as they are essentially non-readers and do not read what they have written. Having said that I must tell you that most of my formative assessment is based on verbal responses. I open class with a review of the prior day's target and ask a pertinent question to jog their memory of the earlier lessons. I then tell them the target for this day. I repeat it several times during the lesson,,,ask them to repeat it to me and give me an example of "What we learned". The formative assessment is essential but must be assessed verbally as an exit question. I know immediately who has "got it" and who hasn't. I w review quickly with all and then review again at the opening of the next day's lesson.
ReplyDeleteThere are four students in my resource class and their abilities range from lower level learners and some are on higher levels. Since there are four students in this class, formative assessments aren’t as “formal” as some may be. All students have a scribe and have deficiencies in written expression, so it’s much easier to for them to verbally express their understanding either through bell work or exit slips. This also allows formative assessments throughout the lesson while referring to the target. Most assessments occur through individual or small group discussions.
ReplyDeleteThis helps to assess who understands the content and who needs that extra one-on-one assistance. This allows me to make adjustments to my lesson and prepare for upcoming lessons as well. Since there are higher and lower level students in this class, it also provides opportunities for peer assessment as well as one-on-one assistance.
I try to weave the learning topics throughout my instruction on a daily basis. This can prove to be challenging, but with some conscious effort it is well worth it! One method that I have is to constantly refer back to the learning target. As we learn throughout the lesson I will remind students of the learning target and see if they understand the learning target well. Another method is to break the learning target into smaller “chunks” or steps. This way students can see what it takes to reach the target and I can assess students on each part of the learning target. This also helps me to see where students have misconceptions and can help guide instruction. I use clickers quite a bit for this because the students and teacher both get immediate feedback.
ReplyDeleteI learned from team discussions on the topic quite a bit. Our team discussed making the learning targets student friendly and also pertinent to the formative assessment. I have found that there are times that my learning target could be refined and/or my assessment could better reflect my learning targets. Group discussion of the learning targets helped in this department a lot. I plan to improve in the area of learning targets by taking additional time to reflect on each target and make sure that it is the central theme for each class each day.
As I reviewed my formative assessments and learning targers for the week, I discovered that for the most parts my students were "getting" the targeted information. However the one overall problem I found was that students looked for the easy way out on some of my formative assessement. One assessment in particular asked students to explain a type of advertising and give an example, they could tell me what it was but in giving the example they only wanted to list the types I had given in class which were not examples. Hopefully as we do more with our test verbs and higher level thinking we will get better at this.
ReplyDeleteWhen we looked at Formative Assessments as a team, I discovered that most are similar within the Exploratory Team. We use the same things. What we do with them is a little different. I try to use them either as a way to keep testable info forefront in their mind or to re-enforce somthing they are struggling with.
ReplyDeleteOverall my students are getting it...those few that aren't I will work with or monitor a little more closely. I struggle with getting them into the "meat" of the content due to time constraints and immaturity on their part...but those are things that will be with us always...
My experience with formative assessments have almost always been very informal and primarily done thought observation. Even though this may be effective in some cases, it is not entirely reliable, and therefore, should not be the primary form of formative assessment. The most effective form I have found is a simplified written activity, something that can simply ask what they have learned, to focus in on specifics of the content, and even how they would apply what they have learned. Especially due to the nature of physical activity, this type of assessment may not always be appropriate. But during health and other content areas where actual performance isn't necessary, something that can be more easily viewed and that can ultimately help improve your instruction would be a much better form of formative assessment. Time, however, will always be an issue for everyone when trying to conduct formative assessments on a regular basis. Find the most effective way for each person may result in different types of assessment, but I say somethings may work for you that do not for someone else.
ReplyDeleteAs a team, I feel we do a good job planning and executing a variety of formative assessments regularly. I find the most difficult part of this task is making my way back around to the students that did not "get it" without addressing the target again as a whole. This is something I feel that I struggle with as a newer teacher and have to constantly work on.
ReplyDeleteOne of my targets was:
I can compare the video and text version of a story.
I used a comparison matrix chart as a formative assessment and as a prewriting strategy. I was able to review student work before writing a Do What? open response activity. I have found that formatively assessing during the writing process is much easier to do individually than another other activity/lesson/content I teach.
Formative assessment only works if it is aligned congruently with your learning target. You can't tell the students you want them to know the colors in the rainbow, then use a formative assessment that asks how many months are in the year. I find using the similar questions I have planned to use on the unit tests as a good way to formatively assess chunks of information in a clicker quiz format. This is immediate feedback for me and the students. (It also saves time on grading papers and possibly making a mistake - no I am not perfect)
ReplyDeleteOther types of formative assessment are good to use if you want to know if they grasped today's concept: exit slips, graphic organizers, Do Whats?, etc. However, sometimes a student may know a concept at the end of class while it is fresh in their minds, but not a week later. Therefore, I believe sometimes you have to reassess, even if you have already formatively assessed a learning target - just to make sure it stuck.
I have discovered, which was not particularly a surprise to me, that I don't "use" the learning target enough in my classroom. My targets are always posted and match what I am doing that day, but I just make a general reference to it, on a good day! I like D's idea of writing it in the planner. I think that would help me refer to it more often and make it meaningful to the students.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy using formative assessments in my classroom and use them frequently, but I think I am too informal with them. I don't usually have anything "concrete" on which to guide changes in my instruction. Usually, I am just doing something like 4 corners, stand ups, thumbs up or hands up to let me see who is getting what I am teaching at that moment. Then I do a change up right then if I see a need, which could be anything from whole class to peer mediation to one-on-one help. Also, more often than not, my formative assessments might not exactly match the target, it might just be something I am doing to see if they are on track with what we are doing at that particular moment.
I would like to incorporate more formative assessments strategies, and we have been given many, but for this unorganized person, keeping up with a sea of paperwork is another thing I struggle with. However, these types of reflections, which I honestly have to drag out of myself, really make me aware of my weaknesses as a teacher and make me think about want I need to do to be a better teacher and improve my students’ learning to make sure they all "know" what I expect them to "know" based on my learning targets.
My students become overwhelmed easily and seem to shut down. One technique that has really helped is giving them short checklists. Sometimes it is a simple as writing 1. write name 2. answer question one 3. answer question two 4. Raise hand when finished. This seems to break up the activity so the students are not shutting down before they start.
ReplyDeleteI use a graphic organizer with my students. In it, I organize the targets for students to use as a reference. My exit slip questions are then grouped by targets so that they can refer back to their notes.
ReplyDeleteThere were 3 main learning targets that were focused on during this period.
ReplyDeleteI can order decimals
I can add Decimals
I can subtract decimals.
Formative assessments in math are a great tool, and can be used several times throughout the class. To me, every single problem that is answered, expressed or solved is a formative assessment in and of itself. For every problem, you have the ability to dissect a response and see where the misconceptions may be. This is one of the main reasons that I do not use calculators everyday in my classroom.
All that said, there needs to be FA's that stand above the rest, and are held to a higher scrutiny than a simple working of a problem. This activity helped to separate the 15-20 littles Assessments, from the deeper ones.
A huge step that I need to take in my classroom, is doing a better job identifying what target a specific question is pointing to. I am considering giving a the students a unit syllabus, not dissimilar to the documents we use for deconstructions, to the give the students an idea of what's to come.
In math, it would be easy to have several learning targets in a single class period covered. For example to subtract decimals, as we are now, you must now decimal places, be able to order, and be able to subtract. This is a quality that math has that might not be as prevalent in other areas. Math is scaffolded, so the ability to move between targets is readily available
When I reviewed my learning targets and their relationship to the formative assessments that were given, they were meeting the target. One of my team members stated that they looked pretty good. What I did notice when we looked at the formative assessment activities from last week, was that the students do receive timely feedback. What was lacking was the area for student self-assessment. What my other content teacher and I have been doing is adding in more time to allow the students to look back at their thinking. Overall, the unit that I am teaching right now was constructed by the Leaps program. They have done a good job at aligning targets, activities, and assessments together. The program has done a pretty good job at providing some time for the students to think about their own learning. We sometimes have to create some formative assessments when they have not been provided by the Leaps program. The assessments have helped me direct and re-direct instruction based on the needs of the class and/or students. These have led to insightful thinking on the students part, and has let me gauge and see more learning misconceptions.
ReplyDeleteMy learning targets were:
ReplyDeleteI can identify and define the elements of rhythm.
I can analyze the the elements of melody and harmony.
I can analyze the elements of timbre and style.
The main type of formative assessments that I use in my class are exit slips.
When answering the exit slips, my students who were struggling often didn't take the information to the next level of thinking. Correctly answering the learning target, which is turned into a question, forces the student to use the verb at the proper DOK.
Using student friendly language is much easier with the power verb posters. Also, using examples of stong/weak work helps students learn expectations.
ReplyDeleteThe rubric planner on page 29 will be helpful, as this is a weak spot.
Donna Grubb and I were excited to see the inference activity and rubric on pgs. 47-49
To read the target at the beginning of class is very easy, the hard part is getting the students to see what they have learned over the course of our class period. One thing that I have found that helps me to do this is to have a daily formative assessment. This helps to guide my teaching and to help students reflect and show what they have learned.
ReplyDeleteOne bright moment in this past week for me was when Carla and I made cards with graphs for the students to interpret and the correct interpretations on the back. Students left the cards back down whole they wrote interpretations in their science journals. Once this was done the students flipped the card over and self-corrected using a different color to correct in their journal. This was VERY enlightening to me as I heard my students talking and helping each other to correct. The students really enjoyed looking over their information and making self-corrections, I think this helped them to not feel as self-conscious when admitting and correcting mistakes. Overall, this experience helped me to see that I want to include many more self-assessments in my classroom.
It is easy to read the target at the beginning of the class and have a lesson that addresses that learning target. It takes much more effort to weave the learning target throughout the lesson. I usually have students to copy the learning target in their lab composition notebook before the lesson. One strategy that I saw in a LeaPS conference that I thought I would try with the next unit was to have students to make a graphic organizer in their lab composition notebook. The graphic organizer would have one column with the learning target, one column labeled pre-assessment, a column with the main idea, and a post-assessment column. At the beginning of each lesson students write the learning target and the main idea. Next students assess what they think they know about the learning target and the main idea. At the end of each lesson, students go back and self-assess where they are after the lesson. This strategy may make me more conscious about addressing and weaving the learning target and main ideas and making sure the students understand the learning goal instead of being focused on the performance goal.
ReplyDeleteAs I am sure you can tell by reading the comments posted by other special education teachers in our building, a lot of the formative assessments used in our classes involve verbal assessments.
ReplyDeleteThere are several ways that I use these types of assessments to share the learning target with students throughout the lesson. These include:
Using frequent comprehension checks
of learning target
Using questioning strategies
Using vocabulary from the learning target
throughout the lesson
Associating the learning target with
prior knowledge or background experience
Graphic organizers from interactive
Notebook lessons that I include as
part of guided instruction
I also use written formative assessments to check for understanding throughout the lesson such as graphic organizers like the Fraley model where I use the learning target as the concept to be defined, exit slips and requiring students to complete a small written formative assessment during the lesson in the form of a question and/or questions that we review as a class.
I am looking forward to try some of the new assessments and strategies that we learned this evening such as the Vocabulary Tree which I will be trying next week!
I am in a different classroom for each class I teach, so a strategy I use in my resource math class is an I can notebook. I have my students copy the learning target and the date. We discuss the target as they are writing it down. We then write down any key notes or ideas they will need to know. We work through examples and do different activities. I only have three students in that class, so it is easy to walk by and give immediate feedback or allow every student to have the opportunity to work a problem on the smart board. At the end of each lesson we decide if we have met our I can statement. If so we highlight it, if not we leave it open for more practice the next day.
ReplyDeleteI did find in my other special topics math class that some students were meeting the objective for the day...some knew it before I taught it and that those students are not being challenged. I know that I have the resources in that class to differentiate the learning process. So my goal is to set up a system so that if a kid "tests" out of a topic or understands it quickly he can move on to something more challenging.
My learning targets were:
ReplyDelete*I can compare the governments of the US and Canada.
*I can classify important information about Canada.
*I can explain why Canada has different ethnic groups.
We read the I can statements at the beginning of class. Then, for the first one, we did a DO What ? and listed facts about each countries government and then placed those facts into a Venn diagram. Each student had to be checked off before the notebook could be turned in. That was my opportunity to reteach individually and redirect them. After the notebooks were turned in, as a whole class, we looked at our I can statement again and reemphasized the similarities and and differences in the two countries' governments. It's just a conscious effort on the teachers' part to keep that target as the focus of the class and keep pointing it out to the students throughout the class period.
With my resource class, I discuss the target. I then model the target. The students will do an activity involving this target. Since they receive immediate feedback, they can self-assess. They will see what they need to work on. I will then discuss what target they haven't reached and either work with them individually or as a small group. The students who have met their targets will go on to another target or activity.
ReplyDeleteI have a TARGET ZONE in class. As a class we read the target and then pick out all critical vocabulary and discuss it. Each student has a graphic organizer to organize the vocabulary for the day and for the unit. At the review for the assessment, we revisit each vocabulary word and discuss the target it applies to.
ReplyDeleteI also have their targets on each days activities. During Review before the assessment, students tell me the topic of each of our targets from memory.... then we tackle any review questions they have concerning specific targets. (I took this from CHRISTI BURNETT awhile back... thank you CHRISTI).
I have really being working hard this year to draw my students attention to our target (I can statement) more than just at the beginning of class and during a wrap up. I am extremely bad about losing track of time and trying to do a wrap up in the last minute of class so waiting until till then to state the target again does my students no good. This year I NEVER read the I can statement for the day I always have a student read and if anyone in the class talks we reread the statement because I try to stress the importance of EVERYONE needing to know what we are going to be working on for the day. During the class we will check off (not always latterly) what we accomplish. Also I will use the thumbs up thumbs down and ask “Thumbs up if you CAN…..” It always amazes me at their honesty.
ReplyDeleteIn math it is very easy to make sure the assessment aligns with the target. If I say we are solving for missing angles, then the assessment is about solving for missing angles. I ALWAYS use clicker so my students get immediate feedback on all exit slips and quizzes.
My targets were:
ReplyDelete-I can compose a topic sentence for a paragraph, then develop supporting details for an On-Demand response.
-I can evaluate student On-Demand responses.
-I can construct On-Demand responses that communicate my ideas to an authentic audience.
For the first target, I used a "Rough Draft Checklist" for my formative assessment. This was effective for my students and myself, because we could both see immediately what they knew, based on the elements they included. If they had left out anything, they had to explain on the checklist how they would fix it.
For the second targe, I used "Four Corners" for my formative assessment. We looked at a release student On-Demand response, and they had to go to the corresponding corner of the score they thought the writing deserved. When I told them the correct score, it was easy to see who understood the elements needed to get a 4,3,2, or 1.
For the last target, we did a group activity on audience awareness. This was a great way for students to see if they understood this concept. They could compare their responses to those of the other groups, and also gain information they may have been lacking by listening to the other groups present.
I try to use as many oral formative assessments as possible. This makes it easier for my students as well as my self to assess where the students are. It is very difficult for most of them to put their answers down on paper.
ReplyDeleteMy targets were:
-I can compose a topic sentence for a paragraph, and then develop supporting details for an On-Demand response.
-I can construct On-Demand responses that communicate my ideas to an authentic audience.
I used the “Rough Draft Checklist” like Mrs. Miller used. I read the questions to my students and had them write yes or no to each one of the questions. This allowed them to see if they had put necessary information in or what they needed to add to fix their writings.
We did a group activity on audience. I would read the students different prompts and the students would discuss with a partner and then compare their answers with the other groups in the class. This allowed them as well as me to see where misconceptions may be.
One of my early assignments at ECMS was to read the first several chapters of Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning. I began my tenure at ECMS with an emphasis on formative assessment. My prior teaching experience was in elementary school where I knew my students’ strengths and weaknesses more completely. It was easier to make assessments and determine classroom instruction because I had a smaller number of students all day, every day. I was more than a bit overwhelmed to think about being responsible for my 150 (plus) students. I found formative assessments to be very helpful in making general classroom assessments.
ReplyDeleteThis year, my goal has been to use the assessments to drive my instruction. One of the formative assessments that I use with our “Do What?” questions has been very successful. As the first students complete their “Do What?” questions, they demonstrate that they have completed it accurately to me. These students then become the “Do What?” experts. They go around the room and conference with the other students. These experts check to make certain students have dated their entries, circled power verbs, underlined quantity words, restated and answered, defined key words, and correctly labeled responses.
A couple of things happen as a result of this method. First, students are on task to accurately complete their work so that they may be the experts. Second, this reinforces the “Do What?” procedure to both the expert and the student that must be checked. As I send my students around, students quickly scan their work so they may get a positive review. I am beginning to incorporate this peer check with my other bell work, as well.
As I prepare and plan for weekly lessons, I focus on the learning targets that students need to learn. At the beginning of each lesson, we read the “I can” statement, which is the learning target for the students. Students use this to have an understanding and expectation of what they will learn that day. I try my best to make sure I do this daily, and that the formative assessment at the end of my class ties into the learning target. It seems that lately my formative assessments may not happen each day, because I tend to have to extend my lessons to the next day. I have to continue lessons to the next day which I then close my lesson with a formative assessment. Therefore my lessons do end with a formative assessment that I use to decide if my students have learned the target for the day. I use many different types of formative assessments. Some are paper pencil responses and some are observational. An observational formative assessment I use is thumbs up, sideways, or down for clarification of understanding. Some paper pencil formative assessments I use are the 3, 2, 1 students right 3 things they learned, 2 things the do not understand, and one thing they think they could have clarified; exit slips with one to three sample problems we worked on for the day; and final example is for the students to give me their feedback of the unit, day’s lesson, or a test or quiz.
ReplyDeleteLike many of my fellow teachers, I admittedly had trouble in the past referencing my targets. I would jump right into my lesson, maybe giving a brief introduction as to what we were focusing on for the day: main idea, propaganda techniques, setting and characters, etc. When I started to view my targets as our ultimate goal for the lesson/unit, as the one or two things every student must achieve before we can collect our money and pass go, I began to be better at referencing them from the start. I also made my students aware of them as goals, and now it is not uncommon for some of my students to mention the targets if I fail to do so at the beginning.
ReplyDeleteEmbedding them is another story, although once again, viewing them as goals has really helped. Anytime I switch gears from activity-to-activity or from concept-to-concept, I try to stop and address the targets with the class and give my students a chance to self-assess and determine if we all feel that we have met the targets and therefore reached our goals. This gives me a chance to see what students feel comfortable with what we have learned, and therefore, can become peer leaders when we readdress all of the targets together to complete the lesson/unit, whether that happens in a worksheet, group work, reading journal reflection, exit slip, warm up, or any other assessment that is used to gage that our targets (goals) have been mastered and we can move on to the next ones.
The learning target posted daily is not only a way for the students to know what to expect for the day but, as others mentioned, also a way for me to stay focused when creating assessments and activities. I have gotten into the habit of addressing the target daily at the beginning of class but I really need to work on addressing it throughout the lesson and in closing. It seems we are always so busy on tasks that we run out of time for everything in our day.
ReplyDeleteI try to mix it up but to assess the learning targets I mostly use clickers and check of student work during class. I have found that for me checking student work as they work independently is the easiest way to assess and re-teach on the spot in math. I have come up with a little checklist that I am going to start using as I observe students in order to make notes for future remediation days or study days. I have highlighted students on this list that I feel need extra attention so I will make sure to go to them first.
I have really made a conscious effort this year to reference our daily targets in my math classes. A student will read the "I can" statement at the beginning of the class and we re-visit it at the end, as kind of a check...."Stop and think, can I really do this?" I still need to improve on embedding it throughout the middle of the lessons. I also realized last week that I need to be more specific when assessing my targets through formative assessments. I used a Do What as my formative assessment of multiplying and dividing scientific notation one day last week. I found myself wanting to assess the student on re-stating the question or their grammar rather than the specific skill of diving scientific notation. Another exit slip of plotting a rotation on a coordinate grid, I noticed that the student had created a rotation, but had plotted the original points wrong. Was this wrong? He had the target of creating a rotation correct, just needed help in the skill of plotting points. I see a need for me to make more time to conference with students one-on-one about their exit slips and misconceptions. I think I am going to steal Jennifer's idea about conferencing during Do What time.
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ReplyDeleteWow...I work with a truly awesome group!! I have enjoyed reading the ways that some of you read or have students read the learning target each day. Christi's idea of having those talking read the statement each day is a genius idea, since I have a VERY social group of students. I sometimes forget to reference the target(s) for the day, especially at the end of class. I think if I implement a "target zone" such as the one Karmen uses, it will help me remember to embed the targets throughout my lesson instead of just at the beginning and end of the lesson.
ReplyDeleteI do want students to see why the targets are important and for them to take more ownership of their learning. By addressing the targets and then using a formative assessment to drive my instruction, students will show even more improvement. Last week, I was able to use the formative assessments during the week to then conference with those students that still didn’t seem to be “getting it.” This one-on-one time proved to be invaluable. I was able to help clear up misconceptions and get a few reluctant students to share what they didn’t understand, but were afraid to admit in class.
It’s funny, but I think the most difficult part of learning targets IS reading the target at the beginning of the lesson. To me, the natural part is embedding and weaving the target throughout the lesson. Announcing it beforehand still feels a little unnatural to me, but I am working on it diligently. It reminds me of kids who always try to begin a piece of writing by telling me what they’re going to write about, like, “Today I’m going to write about a year round school calendar.” Instead, it’s far more effective to write, “A year round school calendar is the wave of the future.” I have made it a point to break them of that habit by asking them if they would walk up to someone in the hall and say, “I’m going to say hi to you. So, HI!” Old habits can be tough to break, but I am progressing.
ReplyDeleteAs for the formative assessments from last week, the most effective was a journal entry created from a different character’s point of view from the actual protagonist. When done correctly, it can show student mastery. We have been studying point of view all year in various ways. The assignment was on the board for bellwork as the students entered. I followed by “writing” aloud an example from the core novel we are reading together, explained a bit further, and allowed for questions. Afterwards, students created their own.
When they finished, I asked for volunteers to share. After hearing entries that were particularly well done, I asked students to reread their own work and see how their writing compared, which allowed for self assessment. I followed with a question on how many were now sure they’d done their own entries incorrectly. Several raised their hands, so I allowed them revision time. Students who had already demonstrated mastery of the concept were allowed to act as peer tutors, with my supervision, for those who were struggling. It worked very well.
I think I do a pretty decent job at referencing the learning target for a particular day in class. I actually have a student write it on my dry erase board during first period, and we discuss it as a class. The rest of the day we address it in each class. I also have the learning target in my own interactive notebook so students have the opportunity to see it at least in two different locations in the room when my notebook is projected on screen. Using interactive notebooks, I have the opportunity for my students to write the learning targets for each day in their notebooks. I think it helps my student when they review previous work to get a grasp on what we did that day.
ReplyDeleteI feel that learning targets not only help my students, they also help me focus and fine tune my instruction. I know going in beforehand what I want my classes to get out of the lesson. It’s makes me a better teacher and allows me to have a more focused delivery.
Starting a lesson is much easier now that I've been using the target, or "I CAN" statement, to show students what we will be learning that day. I think it's really eye-opening for the kids, and they know that it is important because all of their teachers are using this daily. They realize that they are not just doing an activity; they are able to see the big picture. Knowing the goal helps them understand if they have learned the skill or content in the target by the end of the lesson.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard for me sometimes to remember to embed the target in the lesson. This is probably one of the things I need to focus on more during instruction. I'm also really bad to run out of time! I like Nicki's idea of highlighting the target if the students learned it or leaving it alone if it needs more practice. That is a good way for students to self-assess very quickly. With having lots of practice, I feel that my formative assessments are aligned with the targets this year than they have in previous years. I think the thing that helped me most was receiving specific feedback on my lesson plans about whether my daily formative assessments actually matched the target or not. I think the quality of my instruction is improving as a result of this, and my students are more aware of their learning goals.
Sometimes it's easy for the kids to get distracted or confused about why they are doing a certain activity. Referencing the target during class helps keep everyone on track. I draw their attention back to the "I can" statement to reinforce the overall goal of the lesson.
The 2 strategies in Chapter 2: Provide students with a clear learning target and Use examples and models of weak and strong work develop in our students an internal vision of what they are to be learning. Remember, that time invested up front results in higher-quality work and increased student motivation. The 'Anticipatory Set' Activity on page 24 would be a great way to change it up a bit with your students.
ReplyDeleteOn page 25, the authors state times 'when not to convert the language' of the standard - have you identified any of your content standards that fall into this category?
I found the last paragraph on page 28 particularly interesting - the impact of teaching students the criteria --specifically lower achieving student creates opportunities for students to take ownership of their learning.
Providing models of strong/weak work strengthens students' evaluative thinking and thus reach understanding of the quality expected at their level.
From your postings and our continued focus on the two strategies, we will most definitely increase our students confidence in their ability to reach beyond those targets!
I am now a blogger for the first time. I knew what my target was but I had little understanding of how to meet my goal of getting on this site, if this task, have been my formative assessment. I definitely would have been and probably still am a novice. HA!!! Thanks everyone for his or her help.
ReplyDeleteWhat I read in chapter two, that stuck in my mind was that everything I do in my classes must have a clear target for my students. They have to understand what is expected of them and exactly what they need to do to learn the standards. I must use formative assessment to help me determine if my students are learning and understanding the standards. I have to make the standards into student friendly targets or I can statements. I am sure this is not as inept as some other posting but its Friday evening after activity day. The “Do what” questions have helped me realize that my questions are sometime unclear to meet my students' target so I am working on that. I am working have clearer targets and working on developing my assessments better than I have before.
CHarris