Analyzing All Kinds of Assessments

Analyzing All Kinds of Assessments

        Not only are there three different types of assessments that we learn to use as teachers, there are so many instructional strategies and methods that teachers can use to teach their students and prepare them for the assessments to come. I'm fond of strategies and methods that support direct instruction, indirect instruction, interactive instruction, and experimental learning. I believe in so many different types of instruction because not every child learns the same and as the teacher, it is my job to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to learn by embracing their learning styles and making accommodations or modifications according to the student's needs. 

Unfortunately, the cartoons to the left are correct in today's day and age. Teachers are being blamed for students' failure on assessments. This is why I believe that assessment implementation and instructional strategies or methods are relevant to the success of not only the teacher, but also to the student. The teacher needs to be prepared for any challenge that is thrown at them. The teacher also needs to be able to cover up their tracks and have evidence that supports their findings rather than only relying on major tests or summative assessments. When developing my unit plan, I will develop diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments. The diagnostic assessments are to pre-access the students knowledge and gain an understanding of what the students know before teaching the lesson. The formative assessments are the accessing process that is going on throughout the development and guided practice of the lesson. It doesn't even necessarily have to be hard copy evidence of the students' work, it can also be observations and mental notes that the teacher is forming when going through the lesson. The summative assessments are a brief evaluation to see what exactly the students learned after the assessment. 

When developing and implementing assessment strategies or lessons in the classroom, it's important to make observations throughout the experience.  Above are some observations that it is important to look out for when collecting data throughout different instructions. The bottom left hand corner displays examples of simple worksheets that teachers can use to record observations based on classroom behavior, student behavior, and teaching objectives.