Assessment For Learning
Different Strategies and Methods to Teaching
By: Stephen Pettifor
Strategy #1
A way to show your intentions would be for example, if you want your students to write a paper, give them examples of how a good paper is to be written, but also give them an example of what a bad paper looks like.
Strategy #2
One activity that could be done is to make a lesson into a game and separate the classroom into teams. This way, each team is engaged in discussions to answer to questions and it is also fun for them.
Strategy #3
Feedback is very important, but what is most important is giving constructive feedback. If you only tell your student what they are doing wrong, then they lose motivation to fix it. But if you tell them what they are doing right as well, then they are a little more motivated to keep doing well.
Strategy #4
Using the students as teachers can be beneficial for both parties. The students who are not quite getting it can be pared up with students who do understand the material. Then they can teach the ones who don't get it how they were able to understand. This is helpful to both students because those who are lost can then understand, and those who understand are able to fine tune their understandings.
Strategy #5
Something that will help students become efficient tools of learning is to teach them to research. Researching peer reviewed articles can help them to "own" what they learn (Newman, 2013). This means they achieve much more satisfaction knowing they found the information on their own instead of asking the teacher for help.
Formative and Summative Assessment
Formative
When determining which assessment I prefer, both have candid and legitimate purposes in a classroom setting. Formative assessment give the teachers and the administration an opportunity to grow and change the curriculum if they need to. The reason for this is because a formative assessment "is used to inform future practice" (Newman, 2013). So the teachers are the ones who assess how the students are doing, and relay the information back to the administration for further review to make sure their educational system is still on track or needs to change somehow.Summative
Summative assessment is merely a collection of information given to determine how much a student knows. Its primary focus "is to determine a student's overall achievement level in a specific area of learning at a particular time" (Newman, 2013). This method allows for a teacher to understand where their students are and can then evaluate and help them if their are behind.
Implementing Both
Both assessments should be implemented in a classroom environment because if they are, this can open up a wide range of opportunities to grow and become more successful as an educator and as an institution. If both assessments were implemented, then the teachers would be able to give feedback and then act upon that feedback to change it if needed.
Resources
- Newman, R. (2013). Teaching and learning in the 21st century: Connecting the dots. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
- Rystad, M. (2013, April 7). Assessment for learning [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcLMlY6R7RM