Formative assessment is an ongoing phenomenon! I am constantly pivoting in the moment, seeing what students need, verbally telling the students what to fix, how to fix it, and reinforcing when it's fixed.

In high school, a variety of formative assessments are paired with student self- and peer-assessment. A traditional example is the occasional Post-it exit slip. While performing is the top priority when first learning repertoire, as well as the days and weeks preceding a concert, the time between is where we are afforded time to explore the social and cultural context of the pieces, experiment with advanced and extended techniques, and have some fun along the way. At the end of the period, on a day studying the styles of Chebiyat Muqam and Vivaldi's Four Seasons, prompts on the board will be answered on Post-it notes and left on the stands as exit tickets. This provides an insight into my own teaching and what was most useful to the students. Additionally, though more rarely, Post-it notes can be a valuable tool in student reflection on performance. At the end of a class, students will be asked to think about what measure(s) they individually performed well and where to improve, or where the orchestra did well and/or could improve.

The way the curriculum and pacing is structured allows for formative assessment as well. If one considers the concert the summative, then I have planned out regular formative assessments in the form of Vivaldi Mondays and Chebiyat Tuesdays. Every week, students know what to expect of themselves because they know when we will be rehearsing a particular piece. In addition to this routine, it also reveals to me and the students what areas for improvement need to be made by comparison to last week's run.