Assess This

Midterm evaluations were last week. It was an opportunity to talk with my cooperating teachers so they can tell me in what areas I need to improve. I have been self-assessing myself throughout this whole process; I know I need work. But there was one main point that ran through all the comments they were making. Assessments.

I think I am still halfway in student-mode and halfway in teacher-mode. As a student, when I hear assessment, I want to run for the hills. However, as a teacher, this is how I can see if my students are remembering and hopefully understanding the principles I have been teaching. Somewhere along this process, I have forgotten what good assessments look like. My methods professors would probably shun me if they heard that, but it is true.

For some reason, throughout this process, in my mind, I have been thinking assessments only come in forms of tests and quizzes, because as a student, that is how I saw them. Now looking at assessments through a teachers lens, I see that the assessments can AND should be informal daily. The students do not need to turn in a worksheet everyday, that is unnecessary, yet that is sort of what I was doing. I would give them points for just doing the handout for the day. I thought that just because they did it, they deserved points. Not true.

After talking with my teachers, it is clear that my assessments can be small: an exit slip, show of hands, telling me an answer by way of so many fingers. I knew all this. But I was blinded by being in charge of all the points. I thought students deserved to get points every day. Here is the thing I did not realize; since students already get participation points, those are the points they get for the day. It does not need to be off of a worksheet, but their participation in the lessons.

So, this week I have been really trying to focus on giving small assessments daily. That way, I do not need to look at 2983 different worksheets after class to figure out if they need help now. I can do it on the spot.

This seems like an obvious lesson to learn, even before stepping into the classroom, but I needed to the experience to understand what happens when there is a lack of balance of informal and formal assessments.