In my 491 practicum I made a conscious effort to implement a variety of assessment for learning strategies to ensure students can gauge their comprehension and have to have an opportunity learn from any mistakes they may encounter in any of the subjects learned in the classroom. Providing students with effective formative assessment was important for me to help steer students in the right direction in their learning. It also allow me insight into any improvements that I could make instructionally to ensure I was setting up the students for success. I implemented a few different formative assessment strategies in the classroom that consisted of peer assessment, self- assessment, and my assessment of students in the classroom. Each assessment techniques are unique and allows students to improve on any subject matter if required by providing some extra assistance or resources.
I would often use self-assessment exit slips for most of my subjects to ensure students were understanding the content and also that to ensure that I was doing an effective job of delivering the curriculum. The self-assessment slips provided me a more candid details on what each students understood and what students didn’t understand. The slips served as an open communication link benefitting both students and the teacher. Personally I found that students were willing to share their struggles on these exit slips, rather raising their hand up in class. Some students may fear to raise their hands when not unsure of the learning due to many reasons and the slips provided that comfortability to share their comprehension to the teacher. I would review each exit slip at the end of the school day to gain a sense of where all my students are in terms of their learning and also adjust anything I needed to improve upon accordingly. For example, in math I would have students fill an exit slip with a question about todays learning and also a section for students to indicate their comprehension of that particular math concept. If the majority of the class was struggling with a concept it would make me accountable in what I need to improve instructionally upon to ensure students understanding learning.
As a result, students become more involved in the learning process and gain confidence in what they are expected to learn and to what standard to ultimately show their learning in a summative form at the end of the learning unit.