Week 5-2 Post

1. Week 5-2: Leave a 30-word micro session summary.

Assessments of learning are evaluations that determine if learning has occurred, such as summative assessment. Assessments for learning happen during the learning process and help the student improve in the future. An example is formative assessment.

2. Student Perspective: Your “Assessment FOR learning (Formative Assessment)” Experience

I had a psychology teacher who made continuous efforts to support my learning through formative assessments. She frequently monitored how much we were learning. For instance, we had two papers throughout the semester, and we had multiple drafts where we used a checklist to analyze our writing. Before handing in the draft, we scored ourselves on whether or not our writing was organized, used proper grammar, and answered all the prompts. Then, the teacher would provide feedback and fill out the checklist herself. She used this checklist to see if there were common weaknesses or strengths in our papers as a class. This was a formal assessment of our progress. Before we handed in our final drafts she held a writing workshop that focused on common weaknesses. This teacher also utilized choral response. She did this almost every class and it allowed her to get a quick assessment of our learning. After explaining an idea, she would ask us comprehension questions that we would answer as a class. If only a few people responded or we all said different answers, she would change her instructional style by explaining the idea in a different way. This was a quick and informal way to assess our learning.

3. Teacher Perspective: Formative Assessment Strategy that You Want to Use
I think computer surveys are a great assessment strategy to incorporate into my future teaching practices. Computer surveys are quick evaluations of student learning, and can include a variety of questions (e.g., true/false, multiple choice, open-ended, etc.). I chose this formative assessment because I can see individual scores and summary scores of the class. Therefore, I can track how individual students are doing, as well as how the class is doing as a whole. Computer surveys can be done every week at the students’ convenience. I can use a variety of questions and assess my students in different ways.

I can use this strategy by giving my students weekly, 10-question online quizzes. The quizzes will be open-book and include information from readings and lectures. I will review the answers in class the day after the quiz is due and answer any questions or misconceptions.

I will be looking to see if students understood the class material from that week. If there is a question that over 50% of students got wrong, I’ll consider giving everyone points and attribute it to teaching error. I wouldn’t want to punish students for something that I may not have explained clearly. I will be tracking my students on an individual and group level. I can see if a student is consistently doing poorly and meet with them to figure out a solution. I can also see the rate that my students are learning. If the class overall is doing poorly, then I need to slow down my teaching pace and change my instructional strategies.

4. Teaching Philosophical Statement Assignment  

I did find this assignment helpful for my learning. It forced me to think about all the theories we’ve reviewed and pick one that best explains my view of learning and teaching. I appreciated getting feedback from my peers and teacher. The prompts helped guide my essay. However, sometimes I felt like I had a lot to say for one prompt and wanted to expand, but I couldn’t because I was trying to stay within the page limit. Maybe have one required question to answer under each component and have additional questions if students need more guidance. But overall when I was writing the essay I thought the questions made me think critically about the course but weren’t too challenging to answer. In the beginning it took me a while to get my thoughts down, but after a while I felt motivated and confident finishing the essay.

5. Do you have any questions or concerns about course learning? 

No questions or concerns!

6. Week 5-2 Activity Completion Check

(Copy and paste the table below into your blog refection)

	Modules	Topics  & Activity	Check ✓ if Completed
Week 5	Week 5-2 *Due by August 12 at 10:59 am	1) Week 5-2 Reading Quiz	✓
		2) Week 5-2 Discussion Forum: One initial response & two peer feedback replies	✓
		3) Week 5-2 Personal Blog Reflection	✓
		4) TPS Final Submission	✓

#7. Social Blog Activity: visit your peers' blogs and provide two feedback comments!

Sammy Mahoney’s Blog

Hi Sammi,

Great summary about emotions and student learning. I really liked your images too. I also appreciate it when a teacher makes me feel comfortable enough to participate in class. It make the whole class more enjoyable and it makes me motivated to stay attentive during class. I liked your point about responding positively to students but also giving them constructive criticism.

Great post and thanks for sharing!

Elizabeth

Marissa Morris’s Blog

Hi Marissa,

Great summary about emotions and healthy classroom environments. I liked your point about understanding social anxiety. In a great student-teacher relationship, a student should feel comfortable expressing to their teacher their emotional state. That’s great you want to go into comprehensive special education, and it seems like you’ll be great at supporting your students’ emotional needs.

Great post and thanks for sharing!

Elizabeth