Do you know what your students know.....and what they don't??
How can we do this? There are many formal and informal ways to evaluate the learning of our students and determine what our students understand and what they don't.
1. Use formal assessment data - Students take a variety of assessments throughout the year that provide teachers with a wealth of data and information about student academic progress. However, teachers must take time to evaluate the data and information to decipher what they are really saying about the student. Some of these assessments include classroom tests that are given at the end of a unit of instruction or embedded within a unit of learning. These assessments are designed to determine if the student has mastered an objective or skill. Another piece of data we can use is our Scantron and Dibbles assessments that we give periodically throughout the school year. These assessments are given to help us understand specific learning about each student as well as gauge the students' academic growth.
2. Use formative assessments - Formative assessments are more informal and are used to check understanding throughout the lesson. They are used during instruction rather than at the end of instruction and provide rich information about what students understand and are able to do. If we use them correctly, they will guide and pace the instruction and will help teachers determine areas needed for reteaching and provide a map for teachers as to what instruction needs to come next. Formative assessments may include exit slips, checklists, thumbs up/down, one-sentence summaries, sample problems, homework, and any other classroom activity that provides information about the understanding of the student.
3. Watch, look, and listen - Just watching, listening, and observing the words and actions of students can provide a wealth of information concerning the learning and understanding of students. Small group instruction, as seen in the above pictures, is a perfect way to determine if students are applying new learning. What better way to assess the learning and understanding of students than to sit in close proximity to them and watch and listen!
Regardless of which method we use to evaluate the learning of our students, we must know where are students are in order to be able to meet their learning needs.
