One strategy that my cooperating teacher and I have been using all year is to track the work that students turn in, particularly homework and center work. Each week, we check off when students complete assignments, noting which students are not turning their work in. If a student does not turn their work in, we make note of it, and find time at the end of the week for students to catch up on any missing work. Looking back, we can see a pattern of which students are not completing their work, which in turn informs our practice. It has helped me keep a closer eye on these students during center time, doing my frequent check ins to see if they are on task. It also gives me a sense if the majority of the class did not have time to complete a task, or if it is just a few individuals. Having it all on a piece of paper also helps me remember which students I need to follow up with at a later date.
This winter I taught a persuasive reviews unit to my second graders. It was a district-wide unit, and the city provided a rubric for assessment. In theory, I like the idea of using a rubric to score writing. I used one to assess students’ personal narratives in the fall, found it helpful when trying to evaluate their use of voice, conventions, etc., and thought the scores accurately reflected the quality of the writing and the skills of the writers. I did not think the persuasive writing rubric produced good results. It measured students’ reviews on 1) introducing the their topic and stating an opinion, 2) providing a concluding statement, 3) providing reasons to support the opinion, and 4) using linking words (because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons. Many of my better writers did not use linking words and I didn’t feel that adding them would have strengthened their reviews. Their complex and varied sentences were well organized and flowed logically – to add linking words would have made the writing sound stilted. Aside from calling for a beginning and an ending, the rubric did not measure structure or organization (in my opinion, a significant measure of good persuasive writing). As a result, the kids’ scores were lower than I thought they should have been. My experience taught me that a good rubric is a work in progress – it shouldn’t be set in stone, but should be reevaluated by teachers who have taught the unit to make sure it measures what it should be measuring.
Everything you do in teaching, and probably in all jobs, is a work in progress. Just remember to constantly assess and change only what needs to be changed otherwise you will have no life of your own!
The past few weeks have been incredibly busy…wait, they have all been busy, and yet incredibly rewarding. We have just begun a poetry unit as April is poetry month. Most of our writing workshops have focused on poetry while reserving some time to finish up their informational writing projects.
The previous poetry units have been fairly free form and there has been very little structure. Some word argue that that is exactly what poetry should be. I agree - to an extent. As my second graders are learning about new topics and concepts, we as a team want to ensure that they are fully understanding the new forms of poetry that they are encountering.
Each mini-lesson has focused on one form of poetry. During the lesson we are encouraging students to share their writing in “Poetry Pauses”. Students will volunteer to read their newly written poems aloud to showcase their writing while also having them practice public speaking in an incredibly safe environment. After each lesson, teachers sit and review the students work to informally assess their understanding.
Their is currently no formative assessment for this poetry unit. As we continue along in the coming weeks, it is NOW the intention to have our a more formal poetry assessment in the form of students writing and illustrating their own poem using a style that we have taught in one of our mini-lessons. When the entire second grade has completed the assignment we can assess the overall learning of each student and how the used the concepts to determine their final project.
Sounds like a great unit! Sounds like the kind of think that should be shared wider. Do you have some kind of school wide poetry fair, maybe by grade level?
A strategy that my cooperating teachers and I have been using recently is a combination of "clip board/check list" informal assessment (while students work on their Math worksheets) and a sharing of the Math Journal question which consists of a math story problem they have to solve using words and numbers. I find it is very telling as you walk around the class observing and helping students with questions. Using a class list and simply checking off those who need extra support with understanding the concept and those who can partner up with a struggling student and help them. Also, At the end of the math worksheets they typically ask for students to think and write. EX: "Write a story problem for 57 cents + 25 cents. Then solve." Students volunteer to go up in the front of the class and read their work with enthusiasm! This is great for other students to hear what their peers wrote as well as practicing public speaking in a relaxed safe environment. Out of 41 students, at least 15 or more raise their hands to be picked to read their work. The students feel a sense of ownership and pride that is really great to see.
During my takeover weeks I implemented a daily assessment of students workboard folders. Each day I would go through and pull out what students completed and check for accuracy and effort. My judgment of their work included references to what I saw them doing during class, and I let students know that they were expected to attempt and hopefully finish all their workboard stations each day. If a student did not finish a station, then they could expect to see their unfinished work in their folder to be completed later in the week. This worked well for the writing station because I clearly stated in advance that students were expected to answer two writing prompts with at least 2 sentences each. I gave students feedback in person on their writing, as well as written feedback in their notebook. If they met the expectation and fully answered the questions, they received a smiley face. Prior to this, there has not been any method of accountability for the student's writing journals. Within a couple days, I discovered that students were striving to be sure they met all the expectations in order to receive a smiley face. Most significantly, capable students who normally underperformed were rising to the expectation because they felt motivated and understood exactly what was expected of them.
One concern I have is that students race each other or compete for smileys. I am trying to emphasize that the answers have to be 'the best they can be' in order to earn a reward. I want students to begin to give themselves their own smiley's based on a self-assessment of their work. I don't want the novelty of the smiley's to be the only motivator. I'd like to instill students with more belief in their own ability, and intrinsic motivation.
I also have to adjust my expectations based on what I know each student is capable of, while also pushing each student beyond their comfort zone. One girl writes quite slowly, but puts full effort in and answers questions very thoughtfully. I was sure to give her a lot of encouragement for her hard work, and well phrased answers.
While teaching math, I will sometimes employ 'Tasks On Demand' to make sure my students are paying attention and are able to apply what they are learning. Sometimes I will present an absurd answer to a question, just to get the kids to think outside the box, be surprised, and inspire them to figure out what the real answer is. Another method of assessment I enjoy applying is 'tapping into students' interests'. For example, I brought in a baseball themed math game that forced students to apply the new subtraction skill they were learning. Watching how the students played the game allowed me to figure out where they still needed additional work for understanding.
Try one of the assessment strategies in your classroom described in the readings and report how effective it was.
ReplyDeleteOne strategy that my cooperating teacher and I have been using all year is to track the work that students turn in, particularly homework and center work. Each week, we check off when students complete assignments, noting which students are not turning their work in. If a student does not turn their work in, we make note of it, and find time at the end of the week for students to catch up on any missing work. Looking back, we can see a pattern of which students are not completing their work, which in turn informs our practice. It has helped me keep a closer eye on these students during center time, doing my frequent check ins to see if they are on task. It also gives me a sense if the majority of the class did not have time to complete a task, or if it is just a few individuals. Having it all on a piece of paper also helps me remember which students I need to follow up with at a later date.
ReplyDeleteDid you try anything new?
DeleteThis winter I taught a persuasive reviews unit to my second graders. It was a district-wide unit, and the city provided a rubric for assessment. In theory, I like the idea of using a rubric to score writing. I used one to assess students’ personal narratives in the fall, found it helpful when trying to evaluate their use of voice, conventions, etc., and thought the scores accurately reflected the quality of the writing and the skills of the writers. I did not think the persuasive writing rubric produced good results. It measured students’ reviews on 1) introducing the their topic and stating an opinion, 2) providing a concluding statement, 3) providing reasons to support the opinion, and 4) using linking words (because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons. Many of my better writers did not use linking words and I didn’t feel that adding them would have strengthened their reviews. Their complex and varied sentences were well organized and flowed logically – to add linking words would have made the writing sound stilted. Aside from calling for a beginning and an ending, the rubric did not measure structure or organization (in my opinion, a significant measure of good persuasive writing). As a result, the kids’ scores were lower than I thought they should have been. My experience taught me that a good rubric is a work in progress – it shouldn’t be set in stone, but should be reevaluated by teachers who have taught the unit to make sure it measures what it should be measuring.
ReplyDeleteEverything you do in teaching, and probably in all jobs, is a work in progress. Just remember to constantly assess and change only what needs to be changed otherwise you will have no life of your own!
DeleteThe past few weeks have been incredibly busy…wait, they have all been busy, and yet incredibly rewarding. We have just begun a poetry unit as April is poetry month. Most of our writing workshops have focused on poetry while reserving some time to finish up their informational writing projects.
ReplyDeleteThe previous poetry units have been fairly free form and there has been very little structure. Some word argue that that is exactly what poetry should be. I agree - to an extent. As my second graders are learning about new topics and concepts, we as a team want to ensure that they are fully understanding the new forms of poetry that they are encountering.
Each mini-lesson has focused on one form of poetry. During the lesson we are encouraging students to share their writing in “Poetry Pauses”. Students will volunteer to read their newly written poems aloud to showcase their writing while also having them practice public speaking in an incredibly safe environment. After each lesson, teachers sit and review the students work to informally assess their understanding.
Their is currently no formative assessment for this poetry unit. As we continue along in the coming weeks, it is NOW the intention to have our a more formal poetry assessment in the form of students writing and illustrating their own poem using a style that we have taught in one of our mini-lessons. When the entire second grade has completed the assignment we can assess the overall learning of each student and how the used the concepts to determine their final project.
Sounds like a great unit! Sounds like the kind of think that should be shared wider. Do you have some kind of school wide poetry fair, maybe by grade level?
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Prior 2nd grade
ReplyDeleteA strategy that my cooperating teachers and I have been using recently is a combination of "clip board/check list" informal assessment (while students work on their Math worksheets) and a sharing of the Math Journal question which consists of a math story problem they have to solve using words and
numbers. I find it is very telling as you walk around the class observing and helping students with questions. Using a class list and simply checking off those who need extra support with understanding the concept and those who can partner up with a struggling student and help them.
Also, At the end of the math worksheets they typically ask for students to think and write. EX: "Write a story problem for 57 cents + 25 cents. Then solve."
Students volunteer to go up in the front of the class and read their work with enthusiasm! This is great for other students to hear what their peers wrote as well as practicing public speaking in a relaxed safe environment.
Out of 41 students, at least 15 or more raise their hands to be picked to read their work. The students feel a sense of ownership and pride that is really great to see.
During my takeover weeks I implemented a daily assessment of students workboard folders. Each day I would go through and pull out what students completed and check for accuracy and effort. My judgment of their work included references to what I saw them doing during class, and I let students know that they were expected to attempt and hopefully finish all their workboard stations each day. If a student did not finish a station, then they could expect to see their unfinished work in their folder to be completed later in the week. This worked well for the writing station because I clearly stated in advance that students were expected to answer two writing prompts with at least 2 sentences each. I gave students feedback in person on their writing, as well as written feedback in their notebook. If they met the expectation and fully answered the questions, they received a smiley face. Prior to this, there has not been any method of accountability for the student's writing journals. Within a couple days, I discovered that students were striving to be sure they met all the expectations in order to receive a smiley face. Most significantly, capable students who normally underperformed were rising to the expectation because they felt motivated and understood exactly what was expected of them.
ReplyDeleteOne concern I have is that students race each other or compete for smileys. I am trying to emphasize that the answers have to be 'the best they can be' in order to earn a reward. I want students to begin to give themselves their own smiley's based on a self-assessment of their work. I don't want the novelty of the smiley's to be the only motivator. I'd like to instill students with more belief in their own ability, and intrinsic motivation.
I also have to adjust my expectations based on what I know each student is capable of, while also pushing each student beyond their comfort zone. One girl writes quite slowly, but puts full effort in and answers questions very thoughtfully. I was sure to give her a lot of encouragement for her hard work, and well phrased answers.
While teaching math, I will sometimes employ 'Tasks On Demand' to make sure my students are paying attention and are able to apply what they are learning. Sometimes I will present an absurd answer to a question, just to get the kids to think outside the box, be surprised, and inspire them to figure out what the real answer is. Another method of assessment I enjoy applying is 'tapping into students' interests'. For example, I brought in a baseball themed math game that forced students to apply the new subtraction skill they were learning. Watching how the students played the game allowed me to figure out where they still needed additional work for understanding.