No Excuses University
Assessments by Ericka Lilly
Why do teachers do assessments?
Teachers do assessments to have a better understanding of their students. Teachers learn about their students strengths and weaknesses through assessments. Our reasoning for assessing students has to be grounded in a commitment to use the information in a way that helps us to generate greater success for them.
Why are you participating in the assessments that you use with students?
As a teacher, it is my goal to gather information from my students in order to get a better understanding of their needs. Assessments will help me develop a lesson plan that will expose the areas at which my students need help at different levels in their development. It also helps me to group the students based on their abilities to learn.
Can you share in explicit detail the value that you find in each assessment?
I think teachers should be allowed to share their knowledge with one another in order to help the child. Sometimes you need another teachers perspective in order to devise a plan that helps both the teacher and the child understand what is expected of him.
Do you participate in assessments that you find no value in for students.
Even though I do not have any teaching experience, I would say that assessments that are not beneficial to the child should be prohibited. Assessments are meant to give students opportunity to achieve the outcomes set for the assessment.
Are you using an assessment you have no idea how to deliver, but are afraid to ask with help with?
As a teacher it is my duty to seek the necessary information needed to enhance the development of my students. If I do not have the answers, I must get the answers. It is important that I stay informed on new ways and any changes to learning. Seeking help from others will only make me a better teacher. A teacher without knowledge is only a hindrance to their students, instead of help.
Even though I have not had much experience as a teacher, I believe that all assessments are just a matter of trial and error. Try different ways of learning to teaching and learn from my students. In addition with learning from the students, I will also rely on helpful information obtained from my fellow teachers.