Module 26 & 28: Blog Post 1

Blog Post 1

• Discuss one question, confusion you have from reading Modules 26 and 28
  

I feel authentic assessments would be difficult to measure as a teacher. I know they gave examples in the book about writing a bill to the Congress or debating a particular issue, but I feel like as a teacher, this would be hard. What kind of guidelines or expectations would you have for the students to follow?

• One of the big ideas for Module 26 is understanding the difference between formative/summative/informal/formal forms of assessment. Despite some intuition, a formal assessment can be formative and a summative assessment can be informal. Fill in an example of how each of these can be used. You can use the chart, make your own, or write them out.

• 	FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT	SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
  FORMALLY ASSESSED	This assessment can be used by the teacher to assess the students progress and check for understanding of the material. A quiz can be used to do this, which includes short-answer questions. This opportunity allows students to demonstrate learning through multiple choice responses as well as written responses.	This assessment is used to by the teacher to evaluate students' progress and the effect the teacher had on the students' learning and understanding of the material at the end of a grading period or unit. A pre-planned student portfolio can be used to demonstrate the strengths, weaknesses, and progress students have made throughout the grading period. Having students complete a portfolio allows them to reflect back on their work and accomplishments.
  INFORMALLY ASSESSED	This can be used by the teacher to seek understanding of the students' learning and make adjustments for improving. Using questioning techniques helps determine this. The teacher asks focused questions in class the elicits understanding or misunderstanding of the material that way improvements or reiteration of the material can be done.	This can be used by the teacher to assess the students progress within the classroom . Observation by the teacher of how students behave or perform, using documented sources allows the teacher to determine what behavior improvements need to be made and if they are effecting the child's learning.

• It is important to note that formative assessments are used to plan for instruction and monitor throughout a grading period. A teacher should provide feedback to students so they can improve their performance in the classroom. Summative assessments assess achievement at the end of an instruction period, unit, or grading period.
  

• SIMPLY BY LOOKING AT IT (or watching it), how can you tell whether an assessment is formative or summative? .... (HINT: This is a trick question. You can't, but why?)

By looking strictly at it, you can not tell what type of assessment is being used because both formative and summative both work integrally to track a student's progress towards learning or an important goal. Often, assessment tools can be used for both summative and formative, so it is hard to distinguish what is actually being assessed. Also, there are many factors other than the student that goes into their learning and progress in the classroom. Teachers along with school districts play an important role in a child's learning process. So, by assessing a child's learning abilities alone, does not necessarily reflect their abilities or progress in the classroom. Assessment of the teacher's teaching abilities and school district policies and procedures are incredibly crucial as well.