FIAE+B1+Chapter+3

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Abstract (Moe):
Throughout this chapter Wormeli stresses the importance of making all directions clear and well thought out for students. If the directions aren't clear, they won't know exactly what you want and expect of them, which will leave them confused. FIAE describes the importance of pre-assessment for both the teacher and student, as it is important for both. KUD is introduced, which stands for know, understand, and able to do. Summative learning assessments are always done at the end and in between are formative assessments that allow quick feedback.

Synthesis (Moe):
As a group, we thought that the most important aspect of assessment is the way we provide information to the students (in clear, exact directions). The use of pre-assessment should be used to help develop what we need to teach throughout the unit and formative assessment should be used more often then summative. We all agreed that there should be no surprises for students when it comes to assessment, as it helps no one. We should be creating assessment that provides quick [|feedback] that acts as checkpoints for students. The use of assessment in the classroom should yield results that reflect what we as teachers need to concentrate more on, rather then finding out what they already know.

Amanda Martemucci
FIAE-Chapter 3: Chapter 3 is about assessment in a differentiated classroom. It is always helpful to students and the teacher if the teacher gives a clear explanation right at the beginning of a class period of what the expectations fare for the day. Students need to know what they need to work on to accomplish for the day. This way of teaching will certainly be used in my classroom in order to help in getting my students motivated and understanding what they need to accomplish before they begin the process. Chapter 3 also discusses the different types of assessments. Pre-assessments are helpful because it allows the teacher to learn where a student is with his or her understanding on the topic the teacher wishes to teach in the next unit. It also allows the students to be aware of what they will need to learn throughout the unit. Formative assessments are down throughout the course of the unit to perceive how students are doing with grasping the understandings set for the unit. Summative assessments are done at the end of the learning. I think all of these assessments would be helpful in my teaching. Being a new teacher, my units and assignments may need to be altered to help students gain the understandings I want them to gain from them. Assessments will be a great way to know if my unit needs to be altered for the future.

Bridget Ferry
Chapter 3: Principles of Successful Assessment in the Differentiated Classroom In a differentiated classroom, assessments and lessons are made clear to the students. There should be no surprises on tests or worries about what will be on it: the students should be well informed about what they will be assessed on and how. Pre-assessments should be used before starting a unit, and the information we learn from them should be used to shape the unit and lessons we are going to teach. Formative assessments should occur frequently and help us to determine where students stand in their understanding of the subject mater: formative assessments are essential. Summative assessments should be created before the unit is fully planned. All lessons should help guide the students to understand and master the material that is on the summative assessment. This means that as a teacher, it is my job to be clear about assessments and make sure there are no surprises for my students when they take any test or quiz: they should already know what will be covered.

Moe
Every person who reads this chapter can automatically relate to it. It discusses how every child enters the class with preconceived notions about everything and how those preexisting thoughts can prevent a student from learning what really is true. I liked how Wormeli describes assessment as a “coaching, nurturing tool” (20). It put how I should approach assessment in to perspective. EEK, essential and enduring knowledge, was described as being KUD (know, understand, able to do). I believe that KUD is the result of differentiated instruction because students learn something, understand it through-and-through, and are able to do things with that knowledge. There are three basic types of assessment; pre, formative, and summative. I think that formative is my favorite because it acts as little markers along the way through a lesson to alert the teacher of what needs more time, and what doesn’t. It also acts as a wait to avoid saving all of the assessment for the end of a unit, which kills the purpose of differentiated instruction.

Chelsea
Assessment should be used as tool for effective teaching. The book describes that the summative assessment should be created first, and then parts of it pulled out to create a pre-assessment to determine student’s needs. Students should also be aware of the expectations of a unit, students who understand the expectations can make connections of their learning to the objectives. When creating a unit the questions created should be either, essential, highly desirable or desirable, this is where teachers should take time to talk with colleagues in order determine what is essential. It is important to also pre determine students knowledge through pre-assessment, by using assessment you create a tool in which you can assess students knowledge and understanding periodically. Assessment also creates a better differentiated classroom because it allows teachers to understand what the students need to best succeed.

Kevin
The chapter begins with a discussion regarding the fact that students will already have a lot of ideas that may be erroneous when they enter your classroom, they are not merely clean slates. I like what the other says about assessment, “the emphasis is not so much on documenting deficiencies as it is on shaping our instructional decisions” (20). Another interesting idea is to give students the actual test you will be giving them on the first day of a unit. The idea is that if they have a clear picture in mind of what the expectations are then they will be able to focus more and achieve better on the test. The chapter had a convenient list of places to go to find what may be essential about a unit if you are teaching it for the first time. This is a useful guide since it is something I will be doing soon. I agree that pre-assessments are a good place to start when designing a unit, there’s no reason to teach students something they already know, or there might be things you assume they already know but that they actually don’t. The author makes a good point that it is important to give assessments throughout a unit to provide them feedback in terms of where their understanding is at.

Christina
Chapter three of Fair Isn’t Always Equal discusses assessment and how assessments can be successful. When assessments are used properly, they advance the learning because they are given at various points before a unit ends. By doing so, the teacher can test for mastery and differentiate the lesson as needed for students. However, if a teacher does not take action after assessing, then the power of assessment is lost. Assessments should always be varied so that students may show their knowledge in different ways. Over time, mastery can be seen through these assessments. As a teacher, by creating authentic assessments, students can connect the material to the real-world, but also see that they are being assessed on what they are learning.

Kristen
In chapter three we find out the importance of knowing what your students know and then assessing their progress along the way. We learn that there are three different types of assessments, pre, formative and summarative assessments. Wormeli emphasizes how important formative assessments are. Formative assessments can tell you what your students know and what they need to know from the material you want them to digest. If you allow your students to rehearse the material and/or apply it to more than one situation the students can prove to you that they know the material or the process you want them to know. Though knowing why something is important to know is helpful you do not need to justify your lessons all the time every time. Some lessons are to exercise research, responsibility or writing skills ect. Wormeli cautions us to avoid "fluff assignments" because they do not advance or exercise a student's knowledge and wastes both the teachers and students time. The purpose of assessment is to give an accurate measure of what the students know.

Jesika
The thing that stuck out to me the most in this chapter was the quote at the beginning, “Too often, educational tests, grades and report cards are treated by teachers as autopsies when they should be viewed as physicals” this is so very accurate. Grading and reporting should be used as a tool to assess (hence the word assessment) not to condemn. Another of the main points is that we, as teachers, should take action to fix deficits if we find that deficits are showing on an assessment. This is one of the key things that will affect my classroom. I will be required by the state and my school to assess my students. I don’t want those assessments to only serve the purpose of stressing out my students. I want them to bee a tool for adjusting my class to suit my students, not my students to suit the test.