I measure understanding Against High Expectations
Teachers should ensure that course grades are a reflection of the students academic performance rather than behavior, effort, attendance, etc. Becoming familiar with many different kinds of assessments and their purpose can help you make decisions about future lessons. Here are a few examples of assessments that can measure against high expectations:
Exit Slips
Exit slips serve as a quick snapshot of a students understanding. This type of assessment is short and should take only a few minutes to complete. The exit slip is a time-saving tool since it focuses on the mastery of one or two skills. For example, If students were practicing double digit addition, an exit slip should have one or two double digit addition problems rather than a whole page full. The teacher can immediately use this data to inform her next instructional decision.
Collaborative Discussions
Sharing time is under-rated. When students share ideas and concepts with each other, you have an opportunity to hear what they are thinking. Do they understand the task and on what level? Depending on the purpose of the discussion, the teacher may have planned specific questions or sentence stems to focus students thoughts. Walking around and collecting data while students share is a quick informal assessment that can be used to improve the lesson and address misconseptions in real time!
Intentional questioning
Intentional questioning can be effective for both extending learning as well as an informal assessment. When teachers have prepared intentional questions, he/she has a clear understanding of what it is the students should be thinking to show mastery of a skill. Knowing the ideal student response also helps the teacher focus on what she is looking for the students to say to show they understand the task.
Role Play
Role Play can be another form of informal assessment that engages students right away! For example, If I want to check for understanding of key details of a Police officer text, I can ask pairs of students to role play specific scenarios. To check if students understand why an officers job is important, The teacher can have students role play being a police chief firing a police officer for not doing his job. I may ask questions like " What part of his job did he not do well? Why is his job important?"
Resources:
Muller, J. (2013). Muller's glossary of authentic assessment terms. Retrieved from:
http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/glossary.htm#holistic
