UbDDI+B2+Chapter+5



toc

Abstract: Jared Boghosian
Chapter five has a heavy focus on considering multiple forms of assessing our students. Assessment is how we as teachers find out whether our students have learned anything from our carefully crafted lesson plans. A couple of the really nice ways to assess learning in multiple ways is using the Tic-Tac-Toe board of evaluation and the photo album appraoch to gathering assessment evidence. Within these versitle assessment formats we need to discover understanding. As teachers we can use the Six Facets of Understanding and the GRASPS framework to uncover understanding. The [|Six Facets] claim that when a student understands a concept they should be able to: explain, interpret, apply, perspective, empathy, and self knowledge with or towards the concept. The GRASPS is a performance task that should have a real life **G**oal that the students need to reach. A **R**ole the student steps into to complete the goal, and an **A**udience that will be watching the student and possibly grading them. Identify the **S**ituation the student will find themselves in along with the **P**roduct they will create. The **S**tandards are how we as teachers will evaluate the students.

Synthesis: Jared Boghosian
A lot of people (including myself) were a big fan of thinking of assessment as a photo album (multiple evidences) as opposed to a snapshot (one piece of evidence). Some were really interested in the [|Tic-Tac-Toe] evaluation model, this can erase some of the fears of future educators who think they can't be creative ([|another example]). The trick is to mix traditional testing with non-traditional testing. To put this into context, try inserting some traditional testing into your Tic-Tac-Toe model.

= =

Sarah McGinley
Understanding by Design Chapter 5: Considering Evidence of Learning in Diverse Classrooms 1/28/10

This chapter starts out by talking about the meaning behind assessment testing is about how everyone wants students to do well on the exams when they take them. Therefore, teaching need to know what they want their students to get out of their lesson before actually planning and executing the lesson. Working backwards is one of the good strategies to teaching and getting the results that teachers want. Although, assessment exams are not always clear on what exactly they are trying to assess in students. I understand that all types of assessment tests are required in schools today but I do not believe that one exam accurate in giving all the answers of what students have learned. Some students have a hard time taking exams but do really well with hands-on projects. I agree that proper assessments of students’ knowledge should be evaluated through a variety of tasks and possibly have the students evaluate themselves as well as the teacher. This is one of the reasons why I would like to evaluate students through all sorts of different activities and if needed my students will take an exam.

Scott Bowden
The information in this chapter was the most useful information for me in this book thus far. While reading, I already started thinking about how I could implement this information in my classroom and how I could set up projects and other non-test examples of learning. Being from a background where “learning” in a math class was only gauged by the results of a test and was not often explored by a project, I would like to do projects and have interesting, hands-on activities available for my students to complete in addition to a more formal test. I think that projects that require the use of “non-written” processes (i.e developing a poster, oral presentation, or technological project as compared to “here are some examples from the book, do them”). I can use projects of this nature to bring the students’ reality into my class (like by having them relate their material to everyday life, or to research a profession that does use the material in everyday life) and use them to see how well the students understand the material after using it for more than contrived book/teacher worksheet examples.

Alicia Kenison
In assessing, Tomlinson and McTighe want us to reflect on whether or not the students actually learn what you want them to from the lesson and how you chose to teach it. I appreciate the thought of making a “photo album” so that you can observe the progress of your students through more than just the written word. It is a known fact that we rely too much on the quick and dirty standardized test and not get the chance to see what our students like or want. It is crucial to be flexible and give choices, so students can be the best they can. I always liked the fact that I had the choice of an oral presentation or an essay and group or individual work in high school because we all grow and learn at different rates and in different ways. Tomlinson emphasized that we should always keep our goals in mind while assessing, what did we want our students to learn? I will keep in mind the three essential goals as I pursue my career further, (1) declarative knowledge, (2) procedural knowledge and (3) dispositions in order to accommodate all my students’ educational needs. The GRASPS frame is another thing we must keep in mind to keep growth strong for all. We are supposed to teach the “big idea” at a level so that everyone can understand. Therefore, we must pre-assess, assess and give feedback. Assessment never just comes at the end of a lesson, it is everything that encompasses the lesson and the growth we are targeting. Always keep in mind that our aim is to collect appropriate evidence of learning based on our goals and that no two kids will ever learn at the same pace or the same style. Noted by the authors, “Effective assessment not only measures students but assists them in becoming evaluators of own learning,” so, we must teach the skill of self-assessing while we ourselves assess the “big ideas” and main goals. Overall, assessing should be fun and an ongoing process from the onset of the lesson until the very end. We need to ensure that all students ended with the same overall knowledge of the subject or we have not done our job properly.

Jason Malbon
Effective assessment is of primary concern to me in becoming a teacher. What to measure as knowledge and how to measure it is a major focus of my educational training. I like the analogy regarding the student as a photograph vs. a photo album. It is not fair to give a student a one-size-fits-all assessment in some high stakes testing environment. A student may very well fail a test and still not accurately demonstrate knowledge and understanding. Assessment should follow the example of a photo album. Allowing many different opportunities to demonstrate knowledge only way to be fair and allow for differentiated learning. This gives a global perspective of what the student is actually learning. As a teacher, I want to provide a multitude of chances for a student to show his or her stuff. This will also let me gauge learning progress and identify any special needs more often. Adjustments to lessons can be made as necessary. The idea of pre-assessing knowledge and understanding is a vital tool for both student and teacher. Teachers need not teach what students already know and can better spend time on other material. Students who are behind in knowledge or ahead can each have challenging but differentiated instruction.

Sarah Robinson
In this chapter I learned how important it is to have effective assessments of my students learning. Effective assessment not only shows the students learning but also allows teachers to make improvements to their practices, and to allow even more learning from their students. To have effective assessments one must have clarity about what is good evidence that the student is actually learning and learning well. This chapter has impacted me in the way that I know in my classroom I want to provide multiple types of assessment to make sure that every student has the opportunity to work to their strengths. This chapter has taught me that every student learns differently and shows how what they have learned through different ways. It was also learned through reading this chapter that teachers need to apply the technique of drills and authentic applications in the classroom to keep the level of exciting learning and normal equal because every student learns differently too. Giving students options for demonstrating their knowledge and understanding through assessment is a good way to help every student demonstrate to their full potentially. To help students learn and assess the information they have learned, as a teachers we should relate the information to the real world. This chapter has also made me realize that classroom assessment serves many different purposes, which as summative, diagnostic, and formative. Assessing students early on and offend is very beneficial to the student because you can make sure that they are on track. This chapter has impacted my future classroom in the way that I want to give my students good feedback, and feedback that is beneficial to all my students.

Jared Merrifield
Chapter 5: Considering Evidence of Learning in Diverse Classrooms

This chapter began with explaining effective assessment in the classroom. I was delighted to discover that Tomlinson and McTighe dislike standardized tests as much as I do! This actually ties in well with multiple intelligence theory and Armstrong's disapproval of IQ tests: one single test cannot determine the overall "smarts" of a student, and this can only be done by creating tests that pertain to each intelligence (not just intelligences, but other factors like background and disability). The chapter even suggests a variety of such tests and the best classroom setting for them to take place. I also enjoyed the metaphor of the photograph versus the photo album - it helped put things into perspective for me. From what the chapter says, assessment is quite strenuous, so it is understandable but not necessarily acceptable for a teacher to undergo an "easier" way of assessing the students. I truly hope that I do not become one of these teachers! Not only do I want my students to learn, I want to //know// that they are learning, and I want them to show it appropriately. As for understanding, I am all for encouraging and assessing it in the classroom, and the Six Facets will surely be helpful in the future. The different purposes of assessment were interesting as well, and I am happy to say that I have encountered all three of them several times as a student. Diagnostic assessments are perhaps the most useful, for if you are aware of what your students already know (and perhaps their strongest intelligences), keeping the pace and structure of the lesson becomes much easier. I also welcomed the section on feedback. I am the type of person who constantly needs either praise or constructive criticism on everything I do. I often ask my peers, out of the clear blue, what they think of my efforts on a scale of one to ten! However, if a teacher simply makes a mark on an essay, I am not happy. I thrive on clear, specific, concise comments, and I appreciate the chapter for addressing the importance of effective feedback. Also, I agree when it says that a simple letter grade is not feedback enough. Self-assessment is just as important, if not more-so, because it helps students set their own goals for improvement that will come into play in the next assignment.

Eric Cole
I learned several things as I read this chapter. First, it is important to understand the students that you are working with, and the acquired knowledge that they might already have. Some students might already know how to write a short story, and some students may have no idea how to do this. Having this information though will allow you to make decisions about how you would like to proceed in your class. Second, do not just stick with one form of assessment. All students are different. Some students are test-taking masters, and they have no trouble with sitting at a desk and writing out answers. Other students though are horrific test-takers. Even if they know all the information, they get nervous sitting at a desk, and fail the exam. It is important to offer choices to your students so that they can pick the best way for them to demonstrate understanding of the topic. Lastly, DO NOT PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET! If a student fails a test, it is not the end of the world, and it does not mean that they don’t understand anything. One test does not make or break an entire semester. It is important to spread out the assessment. Have a few pop quizzes here and there in order to properly assess the level of growth in each student. This is a much more accurate way of seeing if a student is able to demonstrate understanding of a topic or not. I look forward to using all of these methods and more in my classroom.

Diana Quinlan
This chapter is all about assessments in the class room. We use assessments to prove that our students understand what we have taught to them. To truly asses someone’s knowledge you need several examples of their work to look at. You can only say that a student fully understands a topic or subject when they can explain it, interpret it, apply it to different situations, can empathies with it and can introduce self-knowledge on the topic. Assessments are also a good tool for teachers. They allow us to evaluate and tweak our teaching styles based on our student’s results. If all my students fail an assessment then I know I have not done my job correctly and need to change my style.

Mike Lawson
Chapter 5: Considering Evidence of Learning in Diverse Classrooms

Without assessment what would be the point of teaching? People could simply study on their own time. If there was no assessment then students wouldn’t have to worry about getting good grades and may never obtain an affinity for learning or doing well in school. So when we do look at assessment or as I look at it assessing my future students I will take assessment pretty seriously. Assessing my students in different ways than in grades or projects I will look at how my students have grown as individuals in my concentration, within discussion, group work, and simple conversations with me, and see how close they have come to obtaining mastery from my class. The difference between authentic and inauthentic work is pretty large when it comes to differentiated learning. Solving “contrived problems” compared to solving “real world problems” (figure 5.3) is huge when relating curriculum to the lives of the students. The GRASPS frame I feel would really help the learning process. Because there are so many different ways that people learn, using well organized learning structure can do a world of good as far as making sure the students stay interested and engaged. The idea of responsive assessment also would help encourage interest and engaged learning. By providing feedback on a regular basis the students understand that you as a teacher are committed to what you’re teaching and also want the students to learn. There’s nothing more annoying than a teacher who takes a month to get your last test grades back or that short story you wrote three weeks ago. In order to try and stay organized and on top of my students work I think it would be a good idea to have separate folders for all of my classes. These folders would include papers that need to be graded and also any test forms for future classes.

Amanda Fitzpatrick
This chapter went along with the third chapter of //Fair Isn't Always Equal// as it explained methods of teaching and assessing students in a differentiated classroom. The one example that I really liked and will most likely incorporate into my assessing style was that of the "Tic-tac-toe" model. This model allows students to be creative, but also makes them adhere to the criteria that you as the teacher want to see that best demonstrates their knowledge of the subject. It also forces a student who may always want to do posters to do something else that will still allow them to be creative but in a different way. I also liked the rubric that allowed the students to first grade themselves. This way, a student who knows that they did not complete the project up to the best of their ability can show this in the grading of themselves, but also write a little comment on what they would do different if they were able to do it over, or what their goals for the next project are. Perhaps after seeing other classmate's projects the student will want to work with a different media, or tackle the unit from a different outlook--learning from others I think is a very positive thing.

Susanna Cooper
Chapter 5 gave a good overview of evidence of learning. I really liked the concept of the “snap shot” learning style. A “snap shot” can be viewed as a standardized test. IT is considered bad because it is just one test. Just like one picture or “snap shot” it doesn’t tell the whole story of our life or of what we really know. It is better to use multiple assessments. By having a variety of assessments, such as journals, portfolios, presentations, ect., the teacher can get more of a photo album sense of the students progress instead of a snapshot. Understanding the material being taught is very important. IF students can answer questions like how or why, they are demonstrating a deeper understanding of a topic. The GRASPS framework is a good example of how students can fully understand a topic. This model shows how the concepts can become more relevant to the student by making goals, finding the role the information plays for the student, thinking about the audience the piece is for, making the product effectively and more. The GRASPS example and explanation really shows that this type of assessment requires the student to think beyond the minimal. They student doesn’t just write a paper, turn it in an be done. They think about the audience, perhaps what role it plays in their life, and what goals they can achieve within the essay. By my students dwelling on more than the essay prompt, the essay or project may become more meaningful and the information may stick with the students longer than if I didn’t use GRASPS every now and then. It is important to use both summative and formative assessments. The formative assessments aid the summative assessments by allowing the students to become more familiar with the unit before the big tests. My classroom would be pretty boring and unproductive if I only used summative assessments. A mix is the best way for the students to learn. I think this chapter ended on a good point. Provide feedback early and often. If I don’t give my student any feedback, they can not fix their mistakes and earn from them. By checking in on my students regularly, I can catch the mistakes earlier and the students have more chances to fix their mistakes and practice what ever they are doing the correct way faster. The more they learn the better!

Jared Boghosian
I learned a lot concerning assessment in this chapter. Assessment is how we as teachers discover whether or not a student has learned the material. One of the big ideas in the chapter was seeing assessment as a photo album as opposed to a snapshot. This means there should be multiple assessments to gauge success instead of having one assessment and moving onward with the class. Dr. Michael Keen, someone who publishes standardized tests agrees that "no test, no matter how good it is, should be the sole criterion for any decision" (60). I plan on using a wide variety of assessments in my classroom, some of the ideas I liked from the book included: oral performances, visual products, essays, objective tests (true false, multiple choice), journals, and peer reviews. I hope to engage students using the six facets of understanding, with explain and apply as a focus.