Formative Assessment by

Anecdotal Notes

jj_gibb — 2014-06-02 04:38:20 UTC

Have a notebook that contains a page for each students. This allows you to take brief anecdotal notes whilst you observe students or after you have discussions about their knowledge and misconceptions and how you need to individualise their learning plan on a short term planning basis.

Formative Assessment

jj_gibb — 2014-06-02 04:46:39 UTC

Do:
- focus on the learning outcomes
- point out successes and where improvement is required
(Marsh, 2008, p. 273)

KWL + Charts

jj_gibb — 2014-06-02 05:13:28 UTC

A fourth column can be added to the standard K-W-L, making it a K-W-L-H. The H stands for How I learned it.
Through modification, it can be used during a unit of work to assess students knowledge, to help students plan their work or as a self reflection tool.

Examples of other versions

K-W-F: What I Know, What I Wonder, How I will Find Out
K-T-F: Know for sure, Think I know, How IFound out;
O-W-L: What I Observed, What I Wonder, What I Learned
P-O-E: What I Predict, What I Observed, How I can Explain it.

Visual cues

jj_gibb — 2014-06-10 00:23:36 UTC

During the lesson check for understanding by asking students if they understanding through asking students to put up their:

- Thumbs up/middle/down

- Fingers up: 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. 1 meaning "I need a lot of help", 5 meaning "I really understand this"

- Coloured paper/flags:Red: struggling / Green: understanding

- Watch the body language of students to check forunderstanding and engagement.

Think / Pair / Share

jj_gibb — 2014-06-10 00:32:44 UTC

- to stop students always pairing up with their friends, students can be asked to raise their hands, walk around the room and after a certain amount of time high five the person closest to them.

- Two Roses and a Thorn:
Name two things that you liked about a chapter, lesson, etc and one thing you did not like or you still have a question about. This can be used as a wrap up or an exit ticket.

- Talk to each other

Have students discuss with other how they would accomplish a particular task, explain a specific idea, or talk about some knowledge they have gained. Your job as teacher is to walk around the room and listen in on the student conversations. Afterwards, bring the students back together and have a brief group discussion higlighting what was discussed in the different groups.

Teacher Observations

jj_gibb — 2014-06-10 00:48:48 UTC

- When you ask questions in class, watch carefully to see who raises their hands (make sure to give sufficient wait time for your questions). This may indicate who understands the material, and who does not, however sometimes people understand and just do not want to answer.

- Have students explain to you how they know something is true. Try and see from their explanation if they have any misconceptions.

Make predictions

jj_gibb — 2014-06-10 00:58:27 UTC

Have students make a prediction about an experiment or class demo and explain their reasoning. After performing the experiment or demo, discuss why their predictions were right/wrong.
* If grading the assignment (such as a lab report), base the grade on final conclusion, not prediction.

Give Feedback

jj_gibb — 2014-06-10 01:04:20 UTC

- Write descriptive comments on student work helping them see how they can improve their work or what they've done that really worked for them.

- Also give descriptive verbal feedback to students on how they can improve in their work, pointing out areas where they are doing well too.

jj_gibb — 2014-06-10 01:14:16 UTC

Self-assessment

jj_gibb — 2014-06-10 01:14:42 UTC

After the students have finished a writing assignment, let them evaluate themselves. Discuss their self evaluation.

Photos

jj_gibb — 2014-06-10 01:17:26 UTC

Chose two or three photos that represent a process. Have students write captions for each photo followed by a short summary.

POSSIBLE USES OF TECHNOLOGY

jj_gibb — 2014-06-10 01:40:18 UTC

If your school has the funds, students can use their iPads to give interactive, live and anonymous feedback. Meaning students who normally would be less inclined to ask questions or provides might be more likely to be engaged in formative assessment.

Twitter voting

jj_gibb — 2014-06-10 01:55:08 UTC

Similar to clickers, but much cheaper. Set up a script that uses twitter to vote and display a graph of results of students' feedback.

Interactive Posts

jj_gibb — 2014-06-10 01:58:49 UTC

Using interactive posts such as Padlet, Todays Meet or Corkboard, students can posts questions, respond to the teachers questions and the teacher or teachers aide can point out interesting thinking and students are able to build on their own understanding through the thinking of their peers. Especially great for the shy students as they have a voice through technology.