Chapter 11- Engaging Students in Performance Assessment and Reflective Learning

Focus Question:

What is performance assessment for teachers and for students?

     A performance assessment evaluates the teacher’s performance in the classroom. For a student, the assessment evaluates their academic progress. There are three elements of an assessment:

    1.  New Teacher Assessment- You will be evaluated based upon your ability to teach in a classroom, as well on your knowledge about teaching methods, classroom management strategies, and how to relate to students, families, and colleagues. 

    2.   Student Assessment- You will be responsible for evaluating the academic progress of all of your students. Evaluating their learning progress will also help you assess your effectiveness as a teacher.

    3.   Student Self-Assessment- The students should actively participate in the evaluation of their own learning.  

A performance evaluation of the students could include:

·         -Writing assignments

·         -Class participation

·         -Homework

·        - Individual presentation

·         -Quizzes

·         -Self-assessments

A performance evaluation of the teachers could include:

·         -New teacher writing assignments

·         -Education course participation

·         -Homework

·         -Individual presentation

·         -Quizzes

·        - New teacher self-assessments

     Digital Dialog 11.2:

     1.   As a teacher, I would highlight the fact that the answers are anonymous. Students could become more competitive with their peers if they knew who answered what. I would also stress the idea of everyone’s answers being important and useful in class discussion. I would try to make each student feel comfortable enough to state their opinions without feeling embarrassed.

    2. Clicker could be used for any form of question whether it was factual or simply opinion based. I think clicker can be used to help enhance classroom discussion.

    3. Incorrect answers can be a positive strategy for reviewing material. The teacher can see which areas have the most uncertainty or difficulty. You could talk about the wrong answers and explain to the class why they may be incorrect, without stating who answered it incorrectly. 

     

          No matter what profession you choose, you are always going to be evaluated based upon your performance. As teachers, we are not only going to be the one giving the assessments, but we will be evaluated as well. Assessment is very important because it can show teachers where the students stand academically. It can also show administration how effective a teacher is inside the classroom. When we think of evaluations, we typically think of standardized tests and exams. Those tests usually do not give a well-rounded assessment of the academic progress of students. It is important to use many forms of assessment when evaluating students learning. Each evaluation could show us different things.

     Keeping a digital teaching portfolio can come in handy when being evaluated. This is a digital website where you can organize your educational and professional materials. A portfolio can show a teachers growth and development over time.

     Let’s be honest, a classroom full of actively participating students is more fun to teach! We should motivate our students to be more engaged in our lessons. Ask them what they would like to learn about and how they would like to learn it. If we give them a choice, they could be more interested and eager to learn the material.

     I am a fan of using pre-assessments before introducing a new lesson and topic. I believe more teachers should use this form of evaluation to see what the students know before you present the information. In the book, it mentions how teachers should connect their lessons to what the students already know or have been taught. I agree! Building off of a student’s prior knowledge can be a more effective way to teach.

     To help increase student participation, we can use classroom response systems. These interactive tools are a great tool for discussions and lessons. In high school, I used the ActivBoard’ ActiVote. These wireless eggs allowed students to choose an answer to a question. After everyone had answered it, it displayed a pie chart or graph of how many people chose each answer. It was a great way to change-up the typical multiple choice test using a paper and pencil. Below is a picture of the ActiVote device and an example of a chart displaying the class answers.                                                                                                                                                                                

Photo by NJ Tech Teacher on Flickr

                                   Photo by OllieBray on Flickr  

Resources:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin, Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.