Formative Assessments

      This week we discussed more about formative assessments.  Formative assessments help teachers to assess the class as a whole and individual students at one time.  These are ways teachers see if the students understand the material before an actual test which would be a form of summative assessment.  Some ways teachers perform formative assessments by asking students to show a thumbs up or thumbs down, having them give a number between one and five to tell how they feel about the material.  Teachers have also became quite creative and have started developing interactive games and quizzes electronically to formatively assess students understanding.  I believe that students really enjoy these new types of formative assessments.  I was able to observe a classroom using the space race formative assessment to review for their upcoming vocabulary test.  This is where the class is divided into groups and they work together to answer the questions and can see who is winning as they go.  If the students would miss one question it would make them start over from the beginning.  Then, with each different round students would change groups according to how the game arranged them, so they also were able to work with other students in the class.  The students loved this game and would beg to play another round.  I want my future students to be this excited to learn, to review material, and to be this engaged in their learning.  When teachers use formative assessment during their teaching they are able to determine the students progress without having to do a formal test.  I remember when I was in school, the teachers would say raise your hand if you understand it so that we can move on.  Well, if I did not understand the material do you think I wasn't gonna raise my hand?  You are right I raised my hand with all the other students because no student in the class wanted to be called out for not understanding or wanted to be the cause for having to hold up the rest of the class because you don't understand it.  No student wants to be singled out in that way, this is why I believe these new methods I have learned about for formative assessment will help the students to not feel so singled out and they will thrive even more in their education.  They will thrive even more in their education because they will not fib about understanding and the teacher will be able to assess each student directly for their understanding. Then, the teacher will be able to correct the student's understanding on the spot before moving on and prevent further confusion.  I also remember a time when we were in class and the teacher had us to go to different parts of the room to answer questions, I found this to be one of the formative assessments when researching.  I really liked this particular formative assessment because it allowed us to get out of our seats and to move around the room.
      The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards the formative assessment connects with for me would be under the first standard Teachers Demonstrate Leadership, "Teachers lead in their classrooms."  It says that they use the data to organize, plan, and set goals.  I believe teachers do this exact task after formative assessments.  Also, under standard four Teachers Facilitate learning for their Students, "Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students."  and "Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction."  They plan the teaching methods and change them if they need to according to if the student is understanding the material or not.  They also are integrating technology with some of these formative assessments, such as the games and quizzes.  (Kahoot, space race).
       During our class this week we split into groups and my group was able to find a very informative and interesting article on formative assessments.  I wanted to share it with you all because I believe it will be a very valuable resource for us in our quest to become educators.  It gives you around sixty ways to perform formative assessments.  Some of these strategies I had never heard of and I really enjoyed learning new and different ways to incorporate formative assessment into the classroom.  I loved the four corners idea where students are able to answer the question by moving around the room and selecting strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree.  I also loved the graffiti wall where students write or draw what they understand or have learned about a specific topic.  I also liked the paper pass idea where students add to answers on different topics posted around the room.  I believe these particular formative assessments stood out to me because they allow the students to get out of their seats and move around the room and they are still able to be assessed at the same time.  I believe allowing the students to get up and move around is very important for them and will help them to focus even more.  I know I do not like to sit still for very long and I am an adult, I can't imagine how hard it is for students to sit still all day.  The students need time to move around and express their thoughts on the material.  If you would like to read more about the sixty formative assessment strategies the link is posted below.
     For my future classroom I would like to incorporate many different formative assessments into my teaching.  This will allow me to determine the progress not only the whole class is making but also the progress each individual child is making.  I will be able to adjust my teaching according to the results I receive from my formative assessments.  I want to use formative assessments in my future classroom in a way that my students do not even realize that they are being assessed.  I want my students to feel comfortable in the classroom and in the activities they do in the classroom.  I want to incorporate formative assessments that they are excited to do, that they ask to do again, and that helps them to be so engrossed and excited about learning.  I want my formative assessments to be beneficial but also enjoyable.  I hope I am able to incorporate many different formative assessments that will be beneficial for my students and me into my future teaching!  Thank you for reading my blog!

Links:
http://www.stma.k12.mn.us/documents/DW/Q_Comp/FormativeAssessStrategies.pdf