Assessment for learning was something I wanted to continuously be able to implement throughout my last practicum as assessment came to the forefront of my responsibilities as a student teacher. Assessment for learning allows students to receive plenty of feedback in order to improve their performance. Students become more active in their learning and assessment, also becoming more confident and sure in what is expected of them as learners.
In socials studies 9, I made sure give students formative feedback everyday on their interactive notebooks that were to be completed by the end of the unit. It was not a secret what I wanted from them! I would give them lots of suggestions and ideas to keep them on the right path without hindering their creativity or personal style. At the end of the unit I had each student complete a self-assessment on their work ethic and overall grade before submitting their final assessment and interactive notebook to me. It is important for students to think reflectively and reflexively about their work in order to think about what they have achieved. It also allowed us to sit down and talk about the progress and performance throughout the unit, collaborating on the final mark that they would receive. Giving students a say in their assessment is extremely important because it allows students to be vulnerable and honest with themselves and allows them to take responsibility and pride in their work.
For my grade 11s, I allowed students to re-write their first three pieces of writing that they handed in to me if: 1.) they met with me 1-on-on to have a meeting about what could be improved 2.) they finished it and handed it back by the re-write due date 3.) they met with me again 1-on-1 to walk me through the changes they made to their re-written paper. After this, I would assign them their new mark and would use the better of the two as part of their summative mark. It is so important for students to have a chance to practice and implement the formative feedback they receive. If students receive feedback but then are not given a chance to attempt to use any of the suggestions for improvement, feedback becomes irrelevant. After going through thorough and specific feedback, students often received much higher marks which really motivated them to continue to incorporate that feedback. After the initial three pieces of writing were done, students then knew how to elevate their work by themselves and to self-monitor for quality of work. This was one of my most successful attempts as using assessment for learning. Students level of work sky-rocketed near the end of the quarter even though there were no more re-writes permitted. Students simply used their assessment for their learning and it was an extremely rewarding experience.
Here are some example of the “double entry journals” that were completed during the novel study of The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men with my grade 11 students. Along with “re-write” opportunities, this allowed students to embrace creativity and self-expression in a formal setting.