When conducting assessments, I always keep the best interests of the student foremost in my mind. By “best interests” I mean the student’s learning and self-esteem. When a student is learning, he or she should feel a sense of positivity around themselves, for learning without improved self-esteem is likely not to continue. When my students were feeling good about themselves, their learning was observably better in respect to their communication, specifically their willingness to ask questions and participate in exercises. I always work to build a positive learning environment for the students.
Once the stage is set, effective assessments are built through careful and consistent observation. From the first day, I observed the students to see who had prior knowledge. My preassessments helped guide my lesson planning in respect to lowering or upgrading information. Preassessments also helped me choose and organize exercises such as writing, group discussion, graphics, videos, resources, and exercises. In addition to prior learning, I developed several techniques for gathering Formative Assessments. For example, I observed the student conversations, the questions that were asked, and the ability of the students to do the exercises. For students who needed extra assistance, I provided one-on-one assistance or asked the EA to help. For advanced students, I would ask for more detail.
For example, when I taught the Needs and Wants lesson, students had to draw and paint their current self-portrait and write three strengths and one thing that they felt needed improvement. I asked the students to connect their strengths to a future job or career. Students gained self-esteem in the circle discussion as they discovered that everyone has different strengths.
In a follow-up class, I modelled my strengths: I am artistic, creative, and a good listener. I used this example of personal strength to show the students that my strengths connect to me wanting to be a teacher. I asked the students to reflect on their current strengths and use their foresight to consider the jobs and careers that they would be well-suited for.
For the summative assessments, I focussed on the individual learning of each student. Some students showed oral understanding, some described their learning in writing, and some showed their learning. I had several pieces of information gathered to assess, so I was able to observe each student’s strengths. I used individual questions to identify specific learning objectives. In the case of written exercises, I was able to observe specific application of skills introduced in writing lessons
I believe that I learned to effectively observe, gather, document, and share preassessments, formative assessments, and summative assessments. I kept clear, careful records. I enjoyed sharing my observations with the students. I think that students are encouraged by knowing that their teacher is paying close attention to their learning.
