Note the definition I'm using at the beginning of the presentation: A formative assessment or assignment is a tool teachers use to give feedback to students and/or guide their instruction. It is not included in a student grade, nor should it be used to judge a teacher's performance. Both of these would be considered summative assessments.
David Wees , Formative Assessment Specialist for New Visions for Public Schools David created a presentation (with some help from my colleagues) on different examples of formative assessment. You can view it here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/pub?id=1nzhdnyMQmio5lNT75ITB45rHyLI... Note the definition I'm using at the beginning of the presentation: A formative assessment or assignment is a tool teachers use to give feedback to students and/or guide their instruction. It is not included in a student grade, nor should it be used to judge a teacher's performance. Both of these would be considered summative assessments.
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Looking for ways to help students appreciate cultural diversity, build awareness about global issues, and develop global competence? Explore these resources for ideas on bringing global dimensions into the classroom. Resources by Topic:
Fostering Global Competence
Global Classroom Strategies
Global Student Leadership and Service
Other Resources From Edutopia
Additional Resources on the Web
Picture it: a middle school in Anytown, U.S.A. has a teacher that is struggling to figure out why her SmartBoard is acting up. Typically she would submit a "tech request" and wait an extended period of time for it to be fixed. One issue, though -- she needs the device now for a very important math lesson. She suddenly remembers that a group of students called the "Tech Detectives" can come to the rescue and fix the problem. Within minutes, several students arrive, play around with a few wires and buttons, and the malfunction is addressed in no time. Students to the RescueThe Tech Detectives Club was created at Black River Middle School in Chester, New Jersey as a way for students to take ownership of the technology they utilise during their various learning experiences. Based on feedback from various school stakeholders who have a passion for technology, it was deemed necessary to start a club that arms students with a strong technological skill set. On a regular basis, students create tutorials, assist teachers, learn about technology trends, collaboratively problem solve issues, and gain exposure to career readiness. The excitement generated from this program is truly remarkable. Below, you will find guidance on how to start your very own Tech Detectives Club. There is no doubt that the first thing needed to make this sort of program happen is unwavering support from school stakeholders. Administration and the board of education must provide the resources necessary to ensure that students are provided with a sound educational experience. Teachers must be willing to tap into students' knowledge of technology and, when called upon, supervise students after school. Parents are needed to encourage active involvement, provide transportation after school, and secure monies at the PTO (Parent Teachers Organisation) level. Community members must be willing to visit school, provide real-world knowledge, and show students what it takes to be successful in the world of technology. Finally, students must be willing to take on the challenge of being part of a team that contributes to improving school culture and ensuring technology issues are addressed. This level of support positions the Tech Detectives to troubleshoot the school's technology issues or fix a certain problem that a teacher may be having with his or her classroom technology. In addition, members can provide a technology lesson to a teacher that may have just purchased a new iPad or Kindle Fire and wants to know how to use it. Some of the troubleshooting involves fixing laptops and carts that are not functioning properly. Also, members will fix SmartBoards and document cameras that teachers may be having a problem utilising. 5 Responsibilities of Faculty Advisors The backbone behind the success of this program is a vision that encompasses student empowerment, collaboration, and career readiness. Right at the top, though, is a strong teacher or teachers to harness the energy of a group of students ready to solve all of the school's technology issues one emergency at a time. While this club does not replace the school's support technicians, it does deflect some of the simple troubleshooting to students who can help. The advisors' responsibilities include: 1. Finding the Technology Needs of the StaffAdvisors send out an email to the staff to find out if a laptop cart needs cleaning up. Sometimes students themselves see the need during class, and they ask the teacher directly if they could benefit from the services of the student techs. 2. Learning and Sharing the Strengths of Each StudentEach student that walks through the door has something to bring to the group. Cultivating a spirit of sharing and collaboration is paramount to success within the group. 3. Planning a Diverse Schedule of JobsDuring one club meeting, the students and advisor(s) may be headed in three different directions: one group off to service a laptop cart, one group to check out a glitchy interactive whiteboard, another group to create a “how-to” video in the library. 4. Community OutreachThe students have skills to share, and there are members of the community that would love to learn. Members of a local senior citizens' group, the "50+ Club," are eager receivers of the information. Sensitivity training lessons are a topic of discussion before students are sent to help. 5. Involve ParentsStudents of the tech clubs very often have parents that are professionals in a high-tech field. Having them share their experience can validate the students' involvement in the club. Overall, the club is a win-win for all who are involved. The students have a confidence boost, the teachers receive needed help, community members and parents build partnerships with students, and administration can see how their unwavering support can help redefine student success. Does your school have Tech Detectives or a similar club? What's your experience with providing this kind of opportunity to young people? This is something I started at my last school with the student council members. Our school was having a major problem with technology as our network was always crashing. Our IT lady was most days spending trying to fix network issues. So I decided to start this up. What it main focus was to take some of the burden away from the IT lady and give empower to these students. Once a week we sat down and had a meeting, where we could discuss and fix IT issues within the school. Also during the Kindergarten and elementary staff meetings their was 15min at the beginning of each meeting where the teachers could tell these detectives what units of work are they starting to introduce and what kind of tech integration they would like in their class, to enhance their students learning. Detectives went off and used their vas knowledge and understanding and researched age appropriate sites to help those teachers. When their weekly team meetings accorded the detectives reported back. Also if their where issues with computers etc a help line was set up on Google so it alerted the detectives so they could address the problem and try and fix it. They where also responsible for making sure the computer lab was in full operational order, video where taken and shared among staff to help with daily trouble shooting problems such SmartBoard issues, setting up Elmo cameras to SmartBoard, moving editing issue and other problems that teachers faced. From classroom management to working with parents, lesson planning to learning environments, this compilation of blogs, videos, and other resources provides an array of tips and advice for teachers just starting out. Resources by Topic:Some very interesting resources taken from Edutopia to help starting out teachers but teachers with more experience should have a read and look at some of the sites given. Classroom Management
Lesson and Curriculum Planning
Cultivating Learning Environments and Communities
Working With Parents
Building Relationships With Students
Preparing for the First Year
Phrases like "random acts of kindness" and "pay it forward" have become popular terms in modern society. Perhaps this could be best explained by those who have identified a deficiency in their lives that can only be fulfilled by altruism.
It seems that we just can't get enough of those addictive, feel-good emotions -- and with good reason. Scientific studies prove that kindness has many physical, emotional, and mental health benefits. And children need a healthy dose of the warm-and-fuzzies to thrive as healthy, happy, well-rounded individuals. Patty O'Grady, PhD, an expert in neuroscience, emotional learning, and positive psychology, specialises in education. She reports: Kindness changes the brain by the experience of kindness. Children and adolescents do not learn kindness by only thinking about it and talking about it. Kindness is best learned by feeling it so that they can reproduce it.A great number of benefits have been reported to support teaching kindness in schools, best summed up by the following. Happy, Caring Children The good feelings that we experience when being kind are produced by endorphins. They activate areas of the brain that are associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust. These feelings of joyfulness are proven to be contagious and encourage more kind behaviour (also known as altruism) by the giver and recipient. Increased Peer Acceptance Research on the subject has determined that kindness increases our ability to form meaningful connections with others. Kind, happy children enjoy greater peer acceptance because they are well liked. Better-than-average mental health is reported in classrooms that practice more inclusive behaviour due to an even distribution of popularity. Greater Sense of Belonging and Improved Self-Esteem Studies show that people experience a "helper's high" when they do a good deed. This rush of endorphins creates a lasting sense of pride, wellbeing, and an enriched sense of belonging. It's reported that even small acts of kindness heighten our sense of wellbeing, increase energy, and give a wonderful feeling of optimism and self worth. Improved Health and Less Stress Being kind can trigger a release of the hormone oxytocin, which has a number of physical and mental health benefits. Oxytocin can significantly increase a person's level of happiness and reduce stress levels. It also protects the heart by lowering blood pressure and reducing free radicals and inflammation, which incidentally speed up the ageing process. Increased Feelings of Gratitude When children are part of projects that help others less fortunate than themselves, it provides them with a real sense of perspective. Helping someone else makes them appreciate the good things in their own lives. Better Concentration and Improved Results Kindness is a key ingredient that helps children feel good about themselves as it increases serotonin levels. This important chemical affects learning, memory, mood, sleep, health, and digestion. Having a positive outlook enables greater attention spans and more creative thinking to produce better results at school. Reduced Depression Dr. Wayne Dyer, an internationally-renowned author and speaker, says that an act of kindness triggers an increase in serotonin, a natural chemical responsible for improving mood. This boost in happiness occurs not only in both the giver and receiver of kindness, but also in anyone who witnesses it.This makes kindness a powerful, natural antidepressant. (PDF, 14KB) Less Bullying Shanetia Clark and Barbara Marinak are Penn State Harrisburg faculty researchers. They say, "Unlike previous generations, today's adolescents are victimising each other at alarming rates." They argue that adolescent bullying and violence can be confronted with in-school programs that integrate "kindness -- the antithesis of victimisation." Many traditional anti-bullying programs focus on the negative actions that cause anxiety in children. When kindness and compassion are taught instead, it fosters the positive behaviour that's expected. Promoting its psychological opposite is key in reducing bullying to create warm and inclusive school environments. Maurice Elias, Professor at Rutgers University Psychology Department, is also an advocate for kindness. He says: As a citizen, grandparent, father, and professional, it is clear to me that the mission of schools must include teaching kindness. Without it, communities, families, schools, and classrooms become places of incivility where lasting learning is unlikely to take place . . . [W]e need to be prepared to teach kindness, because it can be delayed due to maltreatment early in life. It can be smothered under the weight of poverty, and it can be derailed by victimisation later in life . . . Kindness can be taught, and it is a defining aspect of civilised human life. It belongs in every home, school, neighbourhood, and society.It's become quite clear that modern education must encompass more than just academics, and that matters of the heart must be taken seriously and nurtured as a matter of priority. How do you teach kindness? Has it reduced bullying at your school? Written by Ali Parrish "But Miss Parrish, I can't think of anything to write!" Haven't we all heard similar lines in our classrooms? We see hesitant writers sit with a pencil in their hands and a paper on their desks, almost as if they have been handicapped by the task we asked them to do. How is it that some students have so much to say when talking out loud, but when a pencil is put into their hand they suddenly hesitate, struggle and have nothing to say? How can you help those hesitant writers eliminate the "handicap" or barrier that suddenly appears when asked to write? The answer is to simply have them produce "writing" without technically "writing" at all. That's right, the way to get hesitant writers to produce as much "writing" as they do "talking" is to have them do exactly that -- talk. Strategies That Work 1. Student Talks, Teacher Writes
2. Audio Record It
3. Audio Transcribe It
Communication Before Craft
The sooner students (and teachers) can see that writing has nothing to do with a pencil, a piece of paper or keyboard, and the sooner students see that writing is simply communicating, the sooner they will start making incredible progress. Barriers will come down. The handicapping hesitation of putting the pencil on the paper to "write" will go away. Then students will feel free to "say it as it is" in their writing. After all (and I can't stress this enough),writing is simply communicating, but through the pencil's lead rather than through the person's lips.Our concern is not whether a student communicates something through a pencil, pen, keyboard, chalkboard, papyrus, stylus, audio transcription device or otherwise. Our real hope and goal is for individuals to capture their high-quality thoughts and then convey them effectively to others. These strategies break down the barriers between a student's mind and his or her audience. These strategies free up thinkers to express their thoughts without the handicapping hesitation that makes some students' minds go blank as they pick up that pen or pencil. How have you helped students write without putting pen to paper (or pixel to page)? By Todd Finley for edutopiaWhat strategy can double student learning gains? According to 250 empirical studies, the answer is formative assessment, defined by Bill Younglove as "the frequent, interactive checking of student progress and understanding in order to identify learning needs and adjust teaching appropriately." Unlike summative assessment, which evaluates student learning according to a benchmark, formative assessment monitors student understanding so that kids are always aware of their academic strengths and learning gaps. Meanwhile, teachers can improve the effectiveness of their instruction, re-teaching if necessary. "When the cook tastes the soup," writes Robert E. Stake, "that's formative; when the guests taste the soup, that's summative." Formative assessment can be administered as an exam. But if the assessment is not a traditional quiz, it falls within the category of alternative assessment. Alternative formative assessment (AFA) strategies can be as simple (and important) as checking the oil in your car -- hence the name "dipsticks." They're especially effective when students are given tactical feedback, immediately followed by time to practice the skill. My favorite techniques are those with simple directions, like The 60 Second Paper, which asks students to describe the most important thing they learned and identify any areas of confusion in under a minute. You can find another 53 ways to check for understanding toward the end of this post, also available as a downloadable document. In the sections below, we'll discuss things to consider when implementing AFAs. Observation: A Key Practice in Alternative Formative AssessmentA fundamental element of most AFAs is observation. In her Edutopia post, Rebecca Alber says there is much to learn by taking observational notes as students work in groups. "However," she clarifies, "if it is quiet during this talk time, and they are watching you watch them, they are most likely lost." Another Edutopia blogger, Elena Aguilar witnessed "a fantastic first grade Sheltered English teacher" who directed his students to respond to a story by making hand gestures and holding up picture cards. "In this way, the teacher was able to immediately see who was struggling with the concepts and provide corrective feedback." By methodically watching and recording student performance with a focused observation form, you can learn a lot about students' levels of understanding in just a few moments. For example, on the Teach Like a Champion blog, watch how math teacher Taryn Pritchard uses an observation sheet, and note her description of how she pre-plans to assess students' mastery levels in only ten seconds. Pre-planning methodical observations allow instructors to efficiently and effectively intervene when it counts most -- the instant students start down the wrong path. New to Alternative Formative Assessment? Start SlowThe National Capital Language Resource Center recommends the following when introducing alternative assessment for the first time:
According to the American Institute of Nondestructive Testing, the simplest tool to encourage student self-assessment is evaluative prompts:
Portfolios are a more complex form of ongoing self-assessment that can be featured during student-led conferences. James Mule, principal of St. Amelia Elementary School in New York, describes how children benefit from the student-led conferences that occur at his institution: "With the student in charge and the teacher acting as a facilitator, the authentic assessment gives students practice in self-evaluation and boosts accountability, self-confidence, and self-esteem." Pernille Ripp's Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension provides all the handouts needed. The biggest benefit of integrating AFAs into your practice is that students will internalize the habit of monitoring their understanding and adjusting accordingly. We created the following list as a downloadable reminder to post by your computer. In the comments section of this post, tell us which of these 53 ways you've used for checking on students’ understanding -- or recommend other AFAs we should know about.
53 Ways to Check for Understanding
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) describes dozens of Formative Assessment Strategies. The Assessment and Rubrics page of Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything website hosts many excellent assessment rubrics. More Rubrics for Assessment are provided by the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Jon Mueller's Authentic Tasks and Rubrics is a must see-resource in his Authentic Assessment Toolbox website. TODD FINLEY'S PROFILE |
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