Assessment During Learing

Ongoing assessment is essential for successful learning. As an educator, I need to make time for feedback during the learning process, as without feedback, my students cannot improve. As students work, it is my responsibility to provide an opportunity for this feedback to take place. To do this, I must use appropriate but at the same time engaging and effective formative assessment methods.

 

Scale of Understanding

 

Each student receives a scale of understanding (1= haven’t a clue, 10 = I can teach it). During a tough topic, explanation or definition, I would ask students where they are on the understanding scale.

Students are not afraid to express where they stand on the scale; “Ms. I’m a number 4/5”. Thus, this assessment tool allows me to gain sufficient knowledge of students’ level of understanding. It also provides an opportunity for peer-teaching, for example; if a student is brave enough to be a 10 on the scale, I would invite him/her to re-teach the concept to the class.

 

Chain letter

I would write a question on the outside of an envelope. This envelope is passed around from student to student, where each student must write a response to the question and put it in the envelope. This enables me to assess students understanding of the key concepts of the learning.

 

Talking Pairs

Students are paired off into A/B partners. Student A will tell student B something they learned. Student B will then tell Student A something they learned. This will continue until students have nothing left to say.