Learning Outcome #9: Use multiple and authentic forms of assessment to analyze teaching and student learning and to plan curriculum and instruction to meed the needs of the individual.
Planning is such a big part of teaching, and I really underestimated how much until I actually began my own teaching. Although, neither of my host teachers had actual written out lesson plans, they both had said that I probably will stop writing them after a couple of years; I am not convinced. I need to be able to sit down and plan my day, my week, or my unit onto paper, so I can see it and change it if need be. That’s the best part about teaching though, it will never be the same, or at least it shouldn’t. There is always something that can be improved, and one finds this out through teaching it and getting feedback from the students whether it is verbal or just sent through their assessments.
I have five preps at Homer, however they are all the “same.” It is not safe to say that the classes will stay in line or in tune throughout the year, or even throughout the day. I discovered that my plans might change, and that as long as the students are learning it is expected to happen. I try to always leave at least two minutes at the end of class where we discuss and sum up what was just learned. I will ask the students to “give me five,” which is a way to check for understanding for the objective of the day. A one means that we need to work an extra day on the skills and lesson that was taught, or something needs to be changed about the way it is being taught. Sometimes, with five minutes left, I will have the students write a ticket out the door. The most recent one I had the eighth graders do was to write a question asking what they wanted answered throughout the unit, and to describe an inference that they made that day. This is just one example of a formative assessment, but it reveals whether or not the students were paying attention, if they had an understanding of what an inference is preparing them to go back for textual evidence. These are examples of ways that tell me what the students understand, what they don’t understand, and what needs to be worked on more. Because I am teaching the CCSS learning module for the eighth grade, it has been hard for me to make the lessons my own. But, one recent lesson that was supposed to be a mid-unit assessment, I altered a bit. The students were supposed to just sit down and answer questions, but instead I made index cards for each group that was either going to be a charade or scene based on the questions that the module came up with. After the charade or scene was done and the students had guessed the correct answer, the students would ask the rest of the class a question that asked for critical thinking skills as well as textual evidence. A lot of these questions that we have done have been open-ended causing the students to dig deep for the answer.
With my seniors at Tully, the students had a vocabulary quiz at the beginning of every week. We spent the Friday before doing a Q and A (Question and answer) session to get their understanding of the words, but they had to meet me half way. They needed to come to class with their own definitions and examples, as well as any questions. If they didn’t come prepared they didn’t get the privilege of talking about it. These quizzes were graded, but the students were given the opportunity to gain half credit back by doing the corrections. Also, for both essays that I had the students write, they had the option to revise more than once. The outline, notes, and peer review were graded as a formative assessment, and then the final essay was taken for a “grade” as a summative assessment. But, because I gave the students so much feedback, I took into consideration the differences between one essay to the other to see if there were any improvements.
Charade and Scene Lesson
Notecards
Vocabulary Quiz Example
Board of Objectives
I have five preps at Homer, however they are all the “same.” It is not safe to say that the classes will stay in line or in tune throughout the year, or even throughout the day. I discovered that my plans might change, and that as long as the students are learning it is expected to happen. I try to always leave at least two minutes at the end of class where we discuss and sum up what was just learned. I will ask the students to “give me five,” which is a way to check for understanding for the objective of the day. A one means that we need to work an extra day on the skills and lesson that was taught, or something needs to be changed about the way it is being taught. Sometimes, with five minutes left, I will have the students write a ticket out the door. The most recent one I had the eighth graders do was to write a question asking what they wanted answered throughout the unit, and to describe an inference that they made that day. This is just one example of a formative assessment, but it reveals whether or not the students were paying attention, if they had an understanding of what an inference is preparing them to go back for textual evidence. These are examples of ways that tell me what the students understand, what they don’t understand, and what needs to be worked on more. Because I am teaching the CCSS learning module for the eighth grade, it has been hard for me to make the lessons my own. But, one recent lesson that was supposed to be a mid-unit assessment, I altered a bit. The students were supposed to just sit down and answer questions, but instead I made index cards for each group that was either going to be a charade or scene based on the questions that the module came up with. After the charade or scene was done and the students had guessed the correct answer, the students would ask the rest of the class a question that asked for critical thinking skills as well as textual evidence. A lot of these questions that we have done have been open-ended causing the students to dig deep for the answer.
With my seniors at Tully, the students had a vocabulary quiz at the beginning of every week. We spent the Friday before doing a Q and A (Question and answer) session to get their understanding of the words, but they had to meet me half way. They needed to come to class with their own definitions and examples, as well as any questions. If they didn’t come prepared they didn’t get the privilege of talking about it. These quizzes were graded, but the students were given the opportunity to gain half credit back by doing the corrections. Also, for both essays that I had the students write, they had the option to revise more than once. The outline, notes, and peer review were graded as a formative assessment, and then the final essay was taken for a “grade” as a summative assessment. But, because I gave the students so much feedback, I took into consideration the differences between one essay to the other to see if there were any improvements.
Charade and Scene Lesson
Notecards
Vocabulary Quiz Example
Board of Objectives