EVIDENCE #1: Edmunds Middle School French I, 3rd Quarter Summative Assessment, 7th Grade

DESCRIPTION: This assessment was created for the end of the 3rd quarter in mid-April 2017 for my 7th grade French class. However, I had just been hired for the position in early March so we had been working together only about one month. The French classes had become study halls, I learned from my mentor teacher and thus little genuine learning had occurred in several months. I designed this assessment for myself and the students to gauge their level of learning in order to move forward together into the 4th quarter.

ANALYSIS/REFLECTION:

Although it was indicated to me that an end of quarter exam was not expected, since I came on four weeks earlier, I felt it was an important tool to create a “culture for learning” to reference a concept defined by Charlotte Danielson, the acclaimed educator and creator of "The Framework for Teaching." Thus, I designed this assessment to provide feedback to my students and myself. Up until I took on this position, students were given a Pass or Fail for the course as their teacher had been out and there were a variety of different substitutes.

I wanted to create a positive culture for learning with high expectations. According to Danielson, a "culture for learning... reflects the educational importance of the work undertaken by both students and teacher. It describes the norms that govern the interactions among individuals about the activities and assignments, the value of hard work and perseverance, and the general tone of the class. The classroom is characterized by high cognitive energy, by a sense that what is happening there is important, and by a shared belief that it is essential, and rewarding, to get it right. There are high expectations for all students; the classroom is a place where the teacher and students value learning and hard work. Teachers who are successful in creating a culture for learning know that students are, by their nature, intellectually curious, and that one of the many challenges of teaching is to direct the students’ natural energy toward the content of the curriculum. They also know that students derive great satisfaction, and a sense of genuine power, from mastering challenging content in the same way they experience pride in mastering, for example, a difficult physical skill," (Danielson, Charlotte. Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument, 2013 Edition. p.39).

While I aspired to the above description, I faced behaviorally and organizational challenges at the onset and had to adapt my expectations. I worked hard to get to know the school culture, learn my daily responsibilities, plan lessons, establish rapport with students, establish educational and behavioral expectations, and assess some of their past work which I located.

The assessment here contained elements to evaluate retention and understanding of our daily verbal, comprehension and pronunciation work together, their learning of subject pronouns, possessive pronouns, other grammatical concepts and a brief verbal assessment. Part I for example see here, referred to phrases we practiced on a daily basis through a greeting song we sang and learners practiced with partners.

There was a section of written work as well as verbal evaluation which I did with each student individually. After I reviewed the assessments we went over them together and I gave learners a chance to reflect on their strengths and areas for improvement, in order to hone their efforts moving forward.

It was important for the students to have this assessment because it gave them a chance to practice and illustrate their understanding of the material covered as well as see what they needed to work on, thus meeting this standard and engaging learners with their own growth.