Formative assessment is a type of assessment used in the classroom. Unlike summative assessment, which is normally a test at the end of a unit or some other sort of chapter of content, formative assessment is ungraded a majority of the time. It is used to check how well students are understanding new topics and ideas without the pressure of points associated with quizzes and tests. Teachers can use what they observed or the data they collected from formative assessment to gauge how much more they need to go over these topics and how much time needs to be spent on it.
Formative assessment tools that I have looked at in class include Gimkit, Blooket, and Quizizz. All of these websites are fun, engaging quizzes and games that include questions that the teacher can write themselves. Each of these websites then put the questions into whatever form of quiz or game they offer respectively. Gimkit has video game-like games, such as a snowball fight and capture the flag, where players can move their characters around while answering questions correctly to gain advantages in the game. Blooket has different game modes that the quiz can be applied to, most of which involve some strategy of how to upgrade tools that help players earn more points for each correct question. Quizizz has less game modes, but has a scoring system and leaderboard, much like the other websites.
Formative assessment can be used in the classroom as a teacher in several different ways. It could be a good way to check how well students are understanding a topic shortly after they have been introduced to it, giving the teacher the ability to know how much more the topic needs to be addressed in class. It is also a great way to review for tests and wrap up a section, easing the pressure off of the actual test as the game gives them confidence while having fun. These fit great into the Danielson Framework for Teaching Domain 1, Element F "Designing and Analyzing Assessments." All of these websites have features for looking at how individual students or the whole class did on the questions, which unlocks a great way to analyze the assessments the teacher designed.