Wrapping Things Up...

          As our time comes to an end, our course covers the last important aspect of being a well-informed instructor: assessment. Although this word is not new for us as second year teacher candidates, assessment is an important aspect to take into consideration when teaching students. As one can note from the image below, there are many branches to assessment; many areas that help students demonstrate their understanding of concepts.

Spencer Burton. Assessment: A Stool Metaphor. [Online Image]. 2016

          To begin this week's exploration, teacher candidates were asked to read various documents; one being the ministry document of Supporting your Child's Learning through Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting. One of the most important aspects for pre-service and in-service teachers to take in from this document is that "the importance of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning." Educators have the obligation to support all learners in the classroom; providing clear and meaningful feedback in order to help students become independent learners.

           A great resource for teachers to use is the Growing Success document. This ministry document provides teachers with the necessary resources they need in order to create useful forms of assessment. Through the use of this document, teachers are able to have a guideline to help them succeed in evaluating their students throughout the year; and in turn, this will lead to the academic success of their students.   

          As educators, an important role we take is to evaluate the learning capabilities of students. Over the course of a year, students will be given ample opportunities to demonstrate their learning to their teachers. It is of grave importance that teachers give students enough chances to demonstrate their knowledge of concepts in all subjects. As highlighted in this week's modules, students perform better if they are able to understand concepts. It is important for students to make connections with math; relating concepts to real-life examples they may encounter in their daily lives. Math is all around us; especially in nature. Therefore, using tangible examples will help students retain concepts. In addition, to help students understand concepts, educators may use apps or games. When chosen properly, apps and games can help bring concepts to life; helping students gain a deeper understanding. Using a combination of aspects will help students engage in activities and keep an active mindset. 

          The topic of assessing and reporting was reinforced with this week's final webinar. The webinar provided a great recap of concepts right before placement. Each of the group members was responsible for practicing to write a progress report comment. The facilitators instructed other group members to pick a learning skill or work habit, choose a level a write a progress report comment for the hypothetical student. I found this to be really challenging since we had no prior practice with comment writing. Each member struggled in writing a comment; not knowing how specific comments are to be. As our time to begin placement nears, I will definitely be taking the opportunity to practice writing these types of comments for students. 

                                        

Lifestyle. Multiple Intelligences. [Online Image]. 

          Overall, assessment provides teachers an insight into the learning styles of their students. The better the teacher learns to get to know their students, the better the outcome will be of academic success in the students. One of the major goals of teaching is to provide the best possible educational and learning experience for students. Through proper assessment, teachers will be able to provide a great learning environment for al types of learners in their classroom.