Reflection On Teaching Experience

Getting assessments to the desirable level is therefore vital, both for teacher and students. From the Educational Assessment Landscape chart, I believe the measurements go hand-in-hand to offer students the opportunities to show what they have learned through differentiated assessments, all leading to the final result of success in summative

This October 2017, practicum observation at Sharpsville Elementary consisted of a third grade Math Assessment interview and observation. The third grade teacher works on formative and summative assessment in the math class. The teacher uses different ways to assess students in the classroom. In most cases, whether the child is above level or at the level where the child should be she has many options and strategies on how to solve mathematical problems as a whole-group or individually. This reflection will discuss the formative assessment, summative assessment, how students respond to the instruction, and a student interview observation..

There are targeted learning goals for all students, and these are based on standards that are set by those higher up than the teachers (Black, 2007). There are many ways that formative assessments can be used, and many formats in which they can be appeared. It is important that they are distinguished from summative assessments, however, and there are several ways in which that can be done (Black & William, 1998; Blatchford,

Formative is the use of day-to-day, often informal, assessments to explore pupils’ understanding so that the teacher can best decide how to help them to develop that understanding. Summative is the more formal summing-up of a pupil’s progress that can then be used for purposes ranging from providing information to parents to certification as part of a formal examination course (Mansell, W., James, M. & the Assessment Reform Group, 2009).

The purpose of this action research project was to evaluate the impact of formative assessment on fourth grade math students’ academic achievement. In order to fully understand the importance of how to drive instruction using formative assessment data one must conduct an intense research of up to date literature equipped with the professional knowledge and skills on the topic. There was an abundance of research about formative assessments and their benefits. Which give a significant amount of credible literature to express the importance of formative assessments, collecting data, and the process of re-teaching and spiraling standards though out the year.

According to “The Glossary of Education”, “Formative assessment refers to a wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course. Formative assessments help teachers identify concepts that students are struggling to understand, skills they are having difficulty acquiring, or learning standards they have not yet achieved so that adjustments can be made to lessons, instructional techniques, and academic support.” As a teacher, many times we need to know what the students know before start a new topic or theme. Formative assessments, also, allows the teacher to improve instruction in general and make changes in teaching techniques in order to help students in the learning process. “Many educators believe that formative assessments are an important part of effective teaching and recommend that should be implemented in every lesson.”(The glossary of Education, para. 4) That is why is considerate part of the instruction processes and should not be part of the student’s grade book because if the students are not ready to pass to the next topic, will acquire a grade that will not show their real growth at the end of the Unit. Instead, give grades, teachers should provide extensive feedback that allows students to learn in base of what they are doing well and what they should be done to get a better feedback. The following

This course addressed different assessment strategies, both formative and summative, to help me evaluate what students have learned in my classroom. The standard paper/pencil test to assess student learning is no longer the norm. There are various ways I can assess a student’s learning that will not take a lot of time or planning. Today’s advances in technology provide me with a broad range of different strategies.

My philosophy of teaching is deeply rooted in nurturing the potential each and every student in my classes. Providing a creative environment that allows self assessment, growth, group interaction and mentorship are at its very core. Having taught in Higher Education for many years, and as an instructor of Media Arts and Animation, and Game Design, I have had the amazing opportunity to work with some of the brightest and creative young professionals. Teaching has not only broadened my love of art and exploration, but my determination to help students that do not have the confidence to persevere through their education, yet have the passion to follow their dreams.

Formative assessments are focused on the sharing of information and teacher-student communication; teachers model how they wish the lesson outcome to appear, students use questions and other learning techniques to get to that point. Formative assessments typically involve open-ended questions, asking students in groups or individually not whether they understand, but to give an example showing they understand. This puts both students and teachers on target for success within the micro and macro learning structure. Summative assessments, in turn, are based on lengthier process after a project, at individual points in a paper, etc. and require

I always thought of myself as someone who was resilient, but after my day of working as a swim teacher that word no longer seemed to describe me. I grew up playing school with my cousins and even taught at my church’s sunday school. I knew that my destiny was to become a teacher, so when the opportunity to teach swim lessons sprung up I was quick to apply. After getting the job and completing training, I couldn't wait to teach my first class

I have had the experience to teach the class four times during the semester and each of them has helped me to learn a lot. Dr. Walenciak has been traveling a lot so I have been in charge of the class those times. The first time, I was terrified the day before of the class. I needed to talk about the chapter of Ostrander’s book that talks about the history of Christian education. I prepared myself a lot and the day of the class I divided the time so the students could work on a project that we have. I try to summarize the chapter while explaining it. I planned to talk for 25 minutes and I ended up talking for 15 minutes. I was talking too fast and skipping important points without realizing about that. At the time of the class, I felt confident but I was a little nervous and it was harder to express my ideas in English but I manage to overcome that. I was able to explain everything but I was a little disappointed that I could not meet my time goal. After that, I ask them some questions to see if they have understood the topic. It was interesting because I could feel somehow the feeling of the teacher when nobody participates in the class. At the beginning, everyone was quiet but after a while, they start participating. To finish the class, I gave them some time to get in groups and discuss their progress for the final project. I asked for some feedback after that to some students and they told me

This quarter I have been working closely with Ariel in her literacy work. I have really enjoyed working with her one on one and will miss seeing her every Tuesday/Thursday. Ariel was always very excited about learning and she often times wanted to switch roles to be the teacher. If we were working on spelling or practicing word sorts, she would ask if I would be the student and she could be the teacher because she wanted to help me! I would make mistakes and she would grab a pen and point to the mistake, it was an absolute riot!! Although, it was easy for her to get distracted, I feel like I learned a lot from her and we were able to get through a lot together. In the rest of the letter I will take about what we focused on in detail and then provide some suggestions for Ariel and her future learning endeavors.

Summative assessments show the overall effectiveness of a course instruction. The objective of this assessment is to assess student’s competencies through an entire school year. This assessment shapes how teachers organize their course of instruction, usually given at the end of a course to evaluate student’s progression (Swearingen, 2002). This type of assessment can be facilitated through computer-based exams. Standardize tests like the ACT and SAT in South Carolina are national board exams that tests student’s strengths and weakness in particular subject areas, to provide data for teachers to understand student’s deficiencies. These tests also give the overall result of the effectiveness of an academic program to ensure proficient learning is properly implemented. Summative assessments are to provide teachers with the necessary information to comprehend student learning that is relative to content standards. However, there are ways that technology facilitates these ongoing assessments through concepts and instructional approaches.

In researching this assessment I looked at a lot of essays and papers about teaching and education

Today was the first day in a while where I was able to interact with the students for most of my time in Mrs. Beach’s class! When I arrived, Mrs. Beach and I shared how sad that we were that today was my last observation. I have developed such great relationships with my mentor teacher and her students that it was hard to say good-bye. Mrs. Beach and I also talked about some of the things that I have learned from my time with her. I have always loved the first ten minutes of my observation because it is the time the Mrs. Beach and I use to debrief the past observation or to discuss the types of teaching that I will observe. Today, we talked about how the geometry unit that the students have just started is very easy and that in past years students have flown through it. With that being said, Mrs. Beach teaches this unit differently. Instead of dividing the class into two groups to teach the lesson in small groups, the teacher taught the lesson whole group.