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Visual arts is great for formative assessment because I can use teacher observation to provide feedback on the spot while I supervise the students' work. I've often heard it said that art and phys. ed. teachers are prolific with formative assessment because we are constantly evaluating student performance in real-time and correcting errors as we observe them. When students encounter obstacles, I often use dialogue/conferencing to help give them new avenues for exploration without actually solving the problem for them. I'm also a big fan of hand signals. It's amazing how far a well-timed thumbs-up, wink, and smile can go in a chaotic room packed with teenagers. Finally, I never grade formative assessment. To borrow a sports analogy, we don't keep score during practice, which is exactly what I believe formative assessment should be (practice before the big game of the summative task).

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Three types of formative assessments that I use almost daily are hand signals, dialogue, interview and conferencing and exit tickets. In math it is imperative to constantly check for understanding. I use hand signals to poll students for answers and I have students engage in dialogue as they work through problems in pairs. After they have worked through the problems I then have them explain to another pair how they solved the problem so they can work to a consensus on how to solve it. I also give a quick exit ticket to assess the level of understanding to help make decisions about where to focus the next days lesson to clarify or to expand on knowledge demonstrated.

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One of the most important formative assessment strategies I like to use is self and peer assessment. This technique helps establish a learning community within the classroom. I usually allow students to reflect while being engaged in meta cognitive thinking to ensure they are involved in their own learning. I encourage the students to self-evaluate their learning process as they are involved in their own learning goals. This is also the case with peer evaluation as students depend on each other as resources for checking for quality work against previously established criteria.

I also give formative assessments through observations during class time as this gives me sufficient evidence of student learning. This evidence can be used as feedback for students about their learning (and recorded so they can track their progress) or anecdotal data.

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My formative assessment is often ongoing with students in class. When working on longer group projects online, I will stop the class and ask a group to connect up to the Apple TV (we are lucky to have this resource). They will be expected to give feedback according to the rubric they have been given. They know that anyone can be chosen, and it is not to point out mistakes, it is to give helpful feedback, which will allow everyone to succeed in their own way. I stress the importance of doing this, even though it is not their own project (sometimes they "just want to get on") as we all learn from each other's work, and we all need time to sit back and evaluate where we are at a certain point in time. You need a feeling of trust in the classroom, so that there is no sense of shame in being on the wrong track if your work is not meeting criteria

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Three types of formative assessment techniques I like to use are peer presentations, digital apps like Kahoot or WordCloud, and observation.
Peer presentations are a great, structured way for students to give each other feedback on their work. Before my computer science students begin the creation phase of their projects, I ask them to prepare a presentation to three of their chosen peers in class. They are presenting their investigation, rough drafts and planning process. Each students then shares three pieces of information, what they find interesting or enjoyable about the idea, one challenge they may fear and one question they have. This exchange provides the students with valuable information moving forward!
Students love to use Kahoot! I use it to quickly check to see if students understand the new vocabulary I will be using throughout a new project presentation and to get them engaged.

-Claudia Gucciardi

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To check understanding, ask students to write three different summaries:

One in 10-15 words

One in 30-50 words

One in 75-100 words.

The different lengths require different attention to details.  Compare/ contrast with peers/ look at teacher model

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Ask students questions during class. Use a procedure for asking questions which ensures that all students have a chance to be asked a question, and include students who might not otherwise participate.

Apps such as TeacherPal (free) can be used to randomly call on students without repetition or leaving anyone out, for those of us who can't touch popsicle sticks.

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I use the 'one-sentence summary' a lot. Because I believe the learning happens when the students create their own understanding and express the knowledge with their own words. I also like the 'retelling' technique for the same reason. The students need to use the high order thinking skills to create a different way of stating the same information. I believe 'self-assessment' is very important too. Not just as a formative assessment, but also because it is part of IB Profile (Reflective) and a very necessary skill for life.

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The three formative assessments that I use are teacher observation, self-assessment and hand signals. When observing students in groups, I listen to make sure they are on task and know what the objectives of the group work is.  Most of the formative assessments in my class are group work so this is usually the first time the students are exploring the task.  If the group is on task I usually move on.  Otherwise, I join in and have a discussion with them.  When a student is working individually, I check in with him or her.  This is also where I sometimes modify the work.  Students are working on a timeline right now and I had an ELL student tell me he couldn’t and didn’t want to do the timeline.  So, I asked him to work with someone else so he could learn how to do the timeline and have a buddy.  Self-assessment is a strategy I use mostly for Knowledge and Understanding.  I ask students to write questions and answers for a class quiz.  From what the whole class writes down, I get a pretty good idea of what they know and what they don’t.  Occasionally, I use hand signals at the end of the lesson.  I ask how many students think they understand and how many want to revisit what we just did.  It gives me an overall view of where the class is and who needs support.

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One of my favorite formative assessment is the learning journal.  In the past my students used a section of their notebook, now each of my students have a google doc for their journals.
In the journal, students are given a variety of formative tasks (ie: a star, a check, and a question mark - something they are doing well with, something they are OK with and one aspect of the learning they are struggling with).  We use the journals for connecting to the process of learning.  I am able to add comments and feedback.
I also use exit tickets to check for understanding of content and skills.
In addition for skills and content, we will give more traditional tests. With the exit cards and the skills/content assessments, I can alter/adjust my instruction to ensure understanding and mastery.

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When I was a kindergarten teacher I used a lot of observation and one on one discussions. As an instructional coach I use exit tickets (paper and online versions) and observation during group discussions. Many misconceptions come out as teachers are discussing different topics.I find that allowing them to have the opportunity to discuss their thoughts and questions with their colleagues often leads to better understanding for all involved. The ones who are doing the explaining have to teach. I can listen and make sure they have the content. The ones with the questions are able to hear a few different viewpoints and explanations and hopefully any misconceptions can be cleared up.

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My formative assessment practice usually centers around the flipped classroom approach. At home, students prepare summaries of topics based on presentations and prepared videos. In class they work in assigned groups to complete workshops that are a mix of terminology, data analysis and discussion questions. I then assess non-verbal cues as to who seems to be contributing well and who isn't. I can take opportunities to sit with students and ask for simple summaries of the concepts to get a better idea of where they are in the process. The group dynamic allows students to compare (and argue about) their answers with or without my presence- so students can get a generally good idea of how their understandings align with others in the group.

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Strategies and Techniques

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The three types of formative assessment that spoke to me were: one-sentence summary, non-verbal clues, and dialogue/interview/conferencing

I use these three the most often in the classroom. As I teach students whose first language is not English, non-verbal clues are essential. They don't always feel comfortable asking questions or letting others know they don't understand.

As an English teacher, asking students to give me a one-sentence summary of the text is a quick way to ascertain if they truly understand the content.

I teach grade 12 literature and the students have a lot of writing assignments, ranging from their college essay to a literary research paper. I like to have conferences with each of them throughout the writing process. It allows to me see where they're struggling and provide differentiated instruction.

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There are two types of formative assessements that I use in my classes: formal and informal. Formal formative assessment is usually a task covers at least two of the MYP strands for my subject. Informal formative assessment is when I get more creative and use different strategies. The entrance ticket strategy is very useful because it lets the teacher discover what the students retained from the previous lesson and also serves the purpose of review, which is helpful for the students. I use the exit ticket also, usually I tell the students the objective of the class at the beginning of the lesson and I write it on the board. During closing the lesson, I ask the students if we fulfilled the objective of the lesson and how. In digital design, teacher observation is another technique that is very helpful for me to formatively assess if my students understood a concept and in addition to that if they didn’t I can give them one to one help so they can grasp the computer skills that I want them to acquire. I also use padlet to get my students to reflect on their learning or to self assess