A Teacher’s Thoughts

What do students think about when they think about assessment? They may list off the variety of projects, tests and quizzes they face throughout the school year. When asked what their goals are for assessment I bet the answer is something along the lines of “to get a good grade”. This is a closed door statement. Now consider the teacher administering the assessment. What is this teacher’s goal for the assessment. There are a variety of wordings for the answers but the end result is something like “to find out if the students learned”. This is an open door statement.

Most assessment formats work just like this. Notice that the only one learning is the teacher. Students clearly learn along the way but when the assessment occurs, the door is closed on learning. Feedback is given to help students learn, but at least at the middle school level where I teach, written feedback on different types of assessments is not always effective and rarely is it efficacious, usually only being used by students with high internal motivation.

This year my primary means of assessment has been conversation. This still allows me to learn about what students know (a teacher goal), but the learning doesn’t stop with me. Jessica Hagy shows the change I have seen with students below.

The learning continues for the students as well. Students readily redo and improve on their work without specific instruction to do so. By taking the time to sit and discuss science with students individually, they gain the opportunity to be reflective, to ask questions of themselves they may not have asked otherwise. I want my students to be always asking questions and to try to ask the next question. Through these discussions they are starting to do just that.