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Standard Eight - Assessment of Students Learning

          Learning is a progressive process, and we can monitor this progression through our formal and informal assessments.  We implement many strategies into our classroom to enable students of many learning styles to display their knowledge in a variety of ways.  In these informal and formal assessments, students are allowed to display their knowledge by using performance or creative skills rather than simply using paper and pencil tests.  These different forms of assessment assist students with not only their knowledge of the subject but their social skills. 

          Assessment is also a form of evaluation of the teacher’s effectiveness.  Through informal assessments like “Kidwatching” and responses to questions, effective teachers can learn what the students do not understand and what may be causing the students to have difficulties.  This allows the teacher to monitor their own teaching style and adjust future lessons to correct these misunderstandings.  The formal assessments like portfolios, presentations, and tests can be used as a tool to see how much knowledge each student has gained.  Learning is a progressive process that through informal and formal assessment strategies a teacher can effectively facilitate.

Rationale of Artifact One

Artifact One

            In INTASC Standard Eight, I must show my understanding and use of informal assessment strategies to assist in the development of my students.  I implemented this practice in my classroom by observing my students during their Literature Circles and recording their performance on the Literature Circle Observation Form.  This Literature Circle Observation Form shows how I used informal assessment in my classroom to inform me of my student’s understanding to create more lessons to help them so that they can grow intellectually, socially, and physically.

            In the Literature Circle Observation Form, I recorded my student’s performance during the Literature Circle with remarks ranging from how they are sitting to how they are responding to questions.  This helped me to see clearly how they were socially interacting and physically responding to their groups.  From my informal assessment, I was able to create lessons from this knowledge to assure that all of the students can succeed.

            Through the use of the Literature Observation Form, I am able to show that I do understand and use informal assessment effectively in my classroom.

Rationale of Artifact Two

Artifact Two

            I am also able to implement formal assessments into my classroom to facilitate learning.  At the end of my students’ study of Literature Circles, I asked them to show their knowledge of what they had learned through the creation of a Commercial.  This Commercial became the students’ formal presentation assessment where they were able to display all of the information about he book that they had learned through collaborated group discussion.

            The Commercial was graded on the group’s display of their knowledge of protagonist and antagonist, plot, and character analysis all of which were topics studied during their Literature Circles.  Their presentation showed me how well they worked in their Literature Circle group and how much effort they put into the creation and production of the commercials because of the effective demonstration of their role. 

            Because of these Commercial, I was able to formally assess the student’s intellectual knowledge, social knowledge, and physical development.