Welcome to my PLP! - Alyssa

Assessment

Practicum II

Goal: As a teacher, I would like to be able to plan for assessments, mark them, and input the grades into Powerschool. In Practicum I, almost all of my assessment was rooted in observations. I would like to have several examples of how I assessed my students and the difference it made to my instruction.

This practicum I was able to input several grades into Powerschool. I had the chance to write several comments for the students. I tried to write these comments in parent friendly language so our communication was clear and easy to understand. Each comment included where the student succeeded and where they could improve. I always made sure to tell parents how or when the students would work on a similar skill.

Here are some examples with student names changed:

Cece: Cece picked a topic she was interested in and did some great research to find sources. However, Cece would benefit from working on her editing skills. Some of her sentences could use more content to better help show her understanding. She will continue to work on these skills in class with writing assignments. She may also benefit from reading her work to peers or adults in her life to receive feedback.

Cian: Cian has not completed this assignment. He is welcome to turn it in to get a grade and feedback.

Rachel: Well done! I enjoyed reading your assignment about penguins! You were able to share many interesting facts and even teach me something new! Your writing was well done and helped you present your research. Keep up the good work!

Kylie: Kylie is very knowledgeable about cats and their care. However, Kylie would benefit from working on her editing skills to help her spell some tricky words. Some of her sentences could use more content to better help show her understanding. She will continue to work on these skills in class with writing assignments. She may also benefit from reading her work to peers or adults in her life to receive feedback.

Jake: Jake picked a super interesting topic to research and became very knowledgeable about Blackholes! He was able to teach us all some very interesting facts and is clearly passionate about his topic! His research was amazingly done and included many reliable sources! Amazing work, Jake!

Charlie: I love how you picked a current event to report on! Charlie picked a super interesting topic to research and became very knowledgeable about the Russia-Ukraine war! He was able to teach us all some very interesting facts and is clearly passionate about his topic! His research was amazingly done and included many reliable sources! Keep it up, Charlie!

Axel: It was clear in his presentation and writing that Axel is very passionate about Belgium. His research and writing were very well done, and he was able to teach us all something new. The class was very interested in hearing his presentation, and it was very well-researched. Excellent work, Axel!

I feel I improved throughout this semester on my ability to assess. Unlike my first pratcium I did many concrete assessments based on the student's work and set outcomes. I would say that this is my area of largest improvement. I now know the importance of assessing students and sharing this information with them.

In Rockyview Schools (RVS) we had a 6-point grading scale, which allowed for a huge spectrum of grades. In RVS, we also used Real Time Reporting (RTR), which allowed teachers to add grades to the stands throughout a unit or project. I liked having such a large grade scale allowed me to accurately place students to where their skills were at. This is different from the grade scale used in the CBE which is only four points. However, having experience with both of them allowed for me to become a more competent educator with knowledge of several school boards and their grading scales.

Practicum I

Goal: As a teacher, I would like to encourage my students to begin self-assessing and peer-assessing their work. I will formulate a variety of lessons which has the students assess each other or themselves.

In one of my final lessons, the students were challenged to make a stamp out of air dry clay. The stamps were all shaped like my example to the left. However, each table group was assigned a different animal and it was their job was to create the raised parts based on two photos. A silhouette of the track and a picture of the details. While the students made their stamps they had to ask at least one friend for a piece of feedback. As a class, we spoke about how feedback can be a "wow" or a "wish" and how we are not being mean if we tell our friends a "wish" because we want our friends to do their best! I also gave each student a piece of verbal feedback when they mentioned being done! This was their first introduction to feedback!

Moose

Canadian Lynx

Wolf

Check out the animal tracks in more detail: HERE

It's always sad when a friend moves away! During my time with the Grade Ones, our friend Max moved all the way to Scotland! While the students were very sad about losing a friend, we decided to write him letters! As a class we brainstormed ideas we could write about such as what we have done in school, his favourite game Minecraft, and even asking him questions!

Because we were actually sending these letters to Max the students worked really hard on their "Superstar Writing." Students would look at the examples of a one-star writing with stick figures and one idea all the way up to a four-star with pretty colours, backgrounds, and multiple ideas! In Grade One students often finish their work quickly and shout they are done. Instead, we encourage the students to aim for four-star writing. This is done by saying:

"When I am done, I have just begun!"

This encourages the students to look at their work and add more details, ideas, or even colours! The students are not finished until the timer goes off, encouraging them to continue self-assessing and adding more!

If you look to the right, you will see some of my Grade One's Superstar Writing at different levels! Some have multiple ideas, while others have colours! At Grade One we are learning about finger spaces and periods!

Where Next?

I would like to work on giving out written feedback and keeping track of it. In Grade One a lot of assessment is done visually through observations and conversations as we look for students' growth. However, something I failed to do during this practicum was to give written feedback and to keep track of it. As a teacher, one must be able to track their students' growth and goals. In the future, I want to have the feedback written as it will allow me to look back on my previous comments about students' work and compare it to new work.

Year Two

Goals, Growth, Strategy

J Chadwick -Our Teacher Mr Brown.pdf

PDF version of the book I ran a F&P assessment on.

Due to COVID-19, I could not assess students directly by scribing for tests, doing formative worksheets, or physically see teachers' assessment methods. Last year in my first-year practicum, I got to witness an F&P running record take place. This semester we attempted to run F&P records with our peers, which was slightly tricky as we had to act it out. I decided to ask my mentor teacher if they did running records. My mentor teacher does not use F&P but instead uses Learning A-Z/ Raz Kids. It is very similar to the F&P records, including the use of levels and comprehension questions.

Goal: How can a teacher encourage a student to self-reflect and assess? Is it best to allow students to think for themselves or dictate their assessments through feedback and formative assignments? I will learn about different types of assessment and perhaps make some assessment documents.

Action Plan: By listening to my assessment course next semester, I will learn about different kinds of assessments and use a lesson planning assignment to create an assessment artifact.

By knowing about running records, I am able to "[use] varied and relevant assessments to identify learner needs and adjust instruction. Include varied ways of addressing misunderstandings" (A2).

Meeting My Goals

Assessment Dossier EDUC 2375- Alyssa Kuruliak

In my Effective Assessment course, we were given an assignment that asked us to plan an entire unit plan spanning two full weeks of instruction with at least four physical assessment artifacts to be created and marked.

For this assignment, I created a fourth-grade science lesson based on the lights and shadows unit. I planned all ten of the days with unique and fun experiences for my students. I had the opportunity to create a student self-assessment artifact such as a Likert scale. I made two worksheets, one that focused on matching while the other encouraged students to make short answer inferences based on prior knowledge. All of which were formative and informed the other days of teaching. Finally, for the summative piece, I created an analytic rubric.

Each assessment piece comes with advantages and disadvantages, teachers should strive to choose the proper tactic, but also be open to feedback from their students.

Grade Four L&S- Likert Scale

A Likert Scale that asked students to self assess themselves based on a art project using only their silhouettes. In a group the students made a scene using only light and shadows.

(Formative)

Grade Four L&S- Short Answer

A Short Answer worksheet which had students place an object outside and check back on it and its shadow throughout the day. Students made inferences on why the shadow moved while the object did not.

(Formative)

Grade Four L&S- Matching

A Matching Response worksheet which asked students to place different objects in front of light to decide weather they were opaque, translucent, or transparent.

(Formative)

Grade Four L&S- Analytical Rubric

A Analytic Rubric which was placed at the end of the unit. Students presented on a topic or theory they found interesting in the unit as a sort of science exhibit to wrap up their knowledge.

(Summative)

In the future, I hope I get to create a lesson plan with a worksheet that I will be able to assess and work with my mentor teacher to decide where or what our next lesson would be on. In this assignment, I was able to inference possible next steps. However, the outcomes could be very different if this was taught to an actual class. Sometimes students understand items quicker while other groups need more time. This assignment reminded me that it is vital that teachers can "generate evidence of student learning to inform teaching practice through a balance of formative and summative assessment experiences" (TQS #3C). Teachers are responsible to assess their students and make decisions based on the information they receive.

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