"Social Studies educators need to help students find connections between what they study and its importance to their lives and to the world in which they live." (Sunal 449)
In preparation for today's class, we were instructed to reading Chapter 14 of our textbooks regarding assessment. Assessment is an essential component of any lesson plan, as it allows for teachers monitor student progress. This constant monitoring indicates when students are prepared to move on to new topics, what in a lesson or unit can be improved, and what strengths a lesson or unit had. This information allows for teachers to plan for better, future instruction.
This chapter clarified my understanding of what assessment and evaluation truly . According to Sunal (2011), assessment is "collecting evidence of learning as your journey toward accomplishing your learning objectives," while evaluation occurs "after you complete the journey and ascertain how well that journey met your expectations" (448). I think it is important to consider the different between assessment and evaluation within a classroom because they serve two different functions that should not be interchanged. Assessment should occur during learning to monitor student progress and understanding, while evaluation should occur after learning to show evidence of learning.
But how can students show evidence of their learning? Testing becomes limited when students need to demonstrate knowledge of effective democratic citizenship. According to Sunal (2011), effective democratic citizenship is comprised of "gathering information, thinking, decision making, communications, social interaction, and civic participation" (452). These concepts and skills can not be truly evaluated through standardized testing. Expects agree that the use of essays, projects, presentations and portfolios are best suited to exhibit these skill areas. I agree that the use of multi-mediaed showings will better demonstrate the knowledge students possess rather than through standardized testing. I plan to use these techniques in my own future classroom so students can truly show their abilities.
This chapter also gave advice regarding the incorporation of assessment into the classroom. Assessment should be inegreated into the curriculum. Student should also be involved in the assessment so changes can be made. It is also important to remember than particular types of assessments, namely summative assessments, can "reinforce poor habits and errors because students are unaware of the need to change"
(Sunal 453). This is another reason why students should be involved in the assessment process. Students can also become a part of assessment by participating in collaborative goal setting, reflective discussions as a whole class, individualized formal written reflections, group evaluation reports, or individual rating of participation.
We were also asked to read the two articles provided to us on eClass. The first, Authentic Assessment Toolbox, aimed to compare the differences between traditional assessment and authentic assessment.
According to Jon Mueller, authentic assessment is a "a form of assessment in which students are asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills." Below, I have provided a comparison present in the article that shows the major differences between traditional and authentic assessments.
I believe that both traditional and authentic assessments should have their place in the classroom. Multiplication tests and scientific formulas call for contrived methods of teaching and displays of understanding. Teacher-structured models are useful for periods of direct instruction. But, as the article stated, traditional methods should not be the only way of teaching. Performing a task shows a true understanding of it. It shows that a student has learned the material and now can apply it to the real-world. Authentic assessment shows the direct evidence of learning through practical examples.
For today's class, we were asked to prepare a graphic organizer regarding assessment. I like using graphic organizers because they help me gather my thoughts. I definitely plan to utilize graphic organizers as a tool within my classroom because it will benefit students. It provides a neat way to place thoughts and can later be used as a study tool.
In class, we were asked to create a "house." The house would show the foundation, walls and roof using the words "learning," "instruction," "standards," and "assessment." When creating the house, we had to pay attention to how we progress from the bottom to the top of the house. Our group believe that learning should be the foundation because without learning, we would not be able to assess, instruct or meet standards. Upon listening to the presentations of other groups, we changed our way of thinking. As the image shows, Standards is now listed at the bottom as the houses foundation. Standards serve as a foundation for instruction, learning and assessment. Without standards, lessons would not have a focus. Student work also would not have a standard to be measured against.
Wednesday 9/18/13:
In preparation for today's class, we were asked to read PDF's of chapters 7, 8 and 13. To better organize my thoughts, I created tables for each chapter. (Shown below)
In class we reviewed Dr. Smirnova's PowerPoint. We were instructed to use the PowerPoint's tips to create our own tests for our peers. The link to my test is here.
Friday 9/20/13:
During today's class, we presented our artifact bags to our fieldwork groups. The contents of my artifact bag are shown below.
I chose to include a letter, a photography and a slip of currency. My letter was written from the point of view of a colonist of New York. In the letter, the writer discusses a bit of her journey to America, her current life in the city, and possible plans for the future. The accompanying picture was of a colonial woman. I found the currency on Pinterest, but unfortunately my group will not be able to use it for our actual artifact bags. Our topic is New York and the New Nation, but the bill's image is of a battle the colonies won against Great Britain during the American Revolution.
Our group plans to meet on Sunday to discuss future ideas for fieldwork. I plan to post our ideas here!
No comments:
Post a Comment