Assessment Reflection

Year Four

Winter 2024 (Practicum II)

Initial Goal: "Creates multiple and varied assessment tools that align with outcomes".

This semester, I want to be able to create and use my own assessment tools, with my students, to promote transparency and honesty within my classroom community. I've found that in past practicums, I have always used what my mentors have given me and haven't really explored or formed my own means of formative and summative assessment. To achieve this goal, I will be taking artifacts and assessment tools from my mentor teachers and exploring what assessment tools will work for my students. I will be reaching out to them and will be asking them for guidance and resources on how assessment data can be accessed and obtained through different mediums outside of standardized testing. In my digital dossier, I will be creating and documenting my tools to reflect on what worked well and what I would need to adjust to best support my students, while accurately reflecting the goals from the Program of Studies. I will be able to attain this goal, as I will be in my practicum placement for the following 6 weeks, where I will be teaching two unit plans. This will give me many opportunities to find different ways of assessing students. I believe that reflective practice and being able to adjust my assessment tools is a valuable skill that every teacher must have. Not every assessment tool will resonate with the students and that is why collaborative work and transparency are essential when documenting student progress. Students should feel like they are in control of their learning, hence the importance of collaboration between teacher and student.

Year Three

Fall 2o21 (Practicum I)

Goal: "Reflects on assessment data with students, parents, and colleagues to support reasoned judgment about the evidence used to report the level of student learning" (A 6).

This semester, I want assessment to be a source of improvement and reflection for my students. I would love to practice using portfolio assessment to show parents their children's progress at Parent-Teacher (PT) interviews. I believe that an overview of a students' work will help my mentor teacher, their guardians, and myself to find out where they may excel in and where they may need a little more support.

Growth: This semester, I used and created a bunch of different assessment tools such as analytical rubrics, self assessment methods, and checklists to determine students' understanding. Upon making these tools, I found out how particular teachers need to be when communicating the assessment criteria with the students. I am happy that I was able to create and use these tools in my field placement.

My mentor teacher and I have also been collaboratively assessing students and giving them marks on "MyBlueprint" which is the school's Real Time Reporting (RTR) platform to communicate student progress with parents. We usually discuss students' progress during our after-school sessions, where we take students' notebooks, participation, behaviour, and skills into consideration.

This semester was also the first time that I've ever met with students' parents! During parent teacher interviews, it was very nice to see the students' guardians care about their children's progress. Meeting with these adults ensures that student learning needs are being met, both at home and at school.

Goal for Practicum II: I would like to explore and create other assessment tools. I found that I struggled with wording a lot of the criteria for the "below meeting" grades. I want to be more confident and comfortable, especially when making rubrics. I will achieve this through creating and exposing myself to new ways of assessing students.

Year Two

Winter 2021

Throughout the EDUC 2375 course, I've learned about the different forms. Initially, I had limited assessment to one of three forms: a multiple-choice, short answer, or numeric response. However, as I progressed into the course, I had the opportunity to explore different types of assessment tools and methods to truly engage and explore students' knowledge. I was able to apply my learnings into a course synthesis, in which a partner and I chose the topic of "celebrating assessment" as students should celebrate their progress, no matter how "small" it may be. Using my understandings from the course, I was able to apply the assessment rubric, assess my work from a teacher's perspective, and put myself back into the perspective of a student. My own understanding of "just-in-time feedback" has allowed me to improve upon different aspects of my presentation, such as the organization, presentation, detail, etc...

To examine other forms of assessment, my partner and I choose to synthesis through a party-themed video to celebrate learning and other various achievements. Through this assignment, I was able to examine different ways of presenting my learning in a fun, engaging, and creative way. Moving forward into my degree, I would like to explore different ways in which I can assess students while simultaneously giving them choices. Assessment is never a "one size fits all" situation, therefore I would like to "[create] multiple and varied assessment tools that [will] align with [the curricular] outcomes" (TQS 3c) my students should meet.

EDUC 2375 Synthesis Presentation.mp4

Final Course Synthesis Project

Fall 2020

As seen throughout this course, there are many ways to determine a student's understanding of specific content. We were introduced to a lot of new online resources that can be used to assess understanding. For my Reading Lesson Plan assignment, I chose to create my own worksheet, so that I could effectively assess my student's knowledge regarding the lesson. Along with a rubric for my worksheet, I included a portion called "Two stars and a wish", which is a method to praise and advise students about their academic performances. In this method, students are given two compliments and a piece of advice to help them reflect on their owns skills. This demonstrates Teaching Quality Standard "3c" by "[providing] specific, timely, constructive feedback to help students monitor their own learning." As students get older, they will strengthen their metacognitive abilities and will be able to effectively reflect upon their own work and their in-class performance.

This year, we were also exposed to two "formal" assessments, which examines a student's fluency, phonemic awareness, and comprehension: Running Records and Fountas and Pinnell assessments. The use of Running Records and Fountas & Pinnell (F & P) assessments can be used to determine long term goals for learners, as they examine a student's current literary skills. It would not be practical for a teacher to use these assessments every day, as learning is not taught overnight. Students enhance their literacy skills through reading, writing, listening, and talking. Therefore, it definitely takes time for there to be a drastic difference in a student's results.

In the near future, I would like to experiment with various types of formative and summative assessments, to find out which ones match my teaching style the best. Different field schools have different ways of assessing their students. Over the next 2 years, I will pay attention to these methods attentively and will see which ones fit my teaching style and my students best. I plan to incorporate different types of activities in my future lesson plans and it is only through trial and error, that I will find the best ones for a specific classroom or grade.

Year One

Winter 2020

My first year field experience school is notorious for their prioritization of formative assessment rather than summative. Never once during my field experience had I witnessed a student submit anything test-like, as most of the grading comes mostly from verbal, physical and digital art forms. For example, students discussing the history of Residential Schools in Canada are given the chance to create a dance that emulates the feelings and emotions of early indigenous people.

They may also create posters, songs, and drama performances to demonstrate their understandings towards the given topic. Students are then graded by their progressive though process and creativity. The photo that I've included shows the daily schedule for the students. I've talked to other student candidates in my class and almost all of them have said that their mentor teachers usually include the word "test" beside the subject, so that students remember that there is a quiz. My field school did not administer any tests, therefore the daily schedule format.

Unlike mainstream classrooms, my field school emphasizes the importance of different art forms and self expression. Unfortunately, I was unable to witness different types of summative assessments. However, moving forward into my degree, this will be something I will definitely look forward to experiencing in other schools.

(Assessment Program Outcome #3)

Fall 2019

Specific: I want to be able understand the different types of assessments, when to use them, how affective they are, and which ones work best for my own students.

Measurable: I will know I have completed this once I am able to see progress in the academic abilities of my students.

Achievable: In order to fulfil this goal, I plan to talk to my mentor teacher and actual test out the various types of summative and formative assessments out there.

Relevant: This is relevant because I am currently a student teacher in an elementary school. In order to help my kids grow and really be successful in their studies, I need to know which tests, activities, and worksheets work for them best. I'd like to find the most engaging, knowledgeable, and effective activities to better their learning and understanding.

Timely: I want to achieve this goal by the end of Winter 2020's field experience.

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