I was in a PD session earlier this week on Formative Assessment and I made the argument that, as a K-4 Art teacher, virtually my entire class is a kind of formative assessment. Every single time one of my students engages in creating a work of art, they are providing me data on their capabilities. Simply by circulating around my room and looking at the student work, I will be able to tell which students understood the directions or, in some cases, which ones are simply choosing not to follow them because they did not find my assignment engaging for them. I will be able to see which students chose to use colored pencils and which ones prefer markers. I can see which students enjoy working quietly and which ones are eager to share their work with friends. What is important is not just that I notice these things, but also that I use this data to inform my teaching.
As a "specials" teacher (aka arts, music, dance, PE) I have many unique opportunities when it comes to formative assessment. Probably the biggest one is that, while a homeroom teacher will be teaching a given lesson 1 time, I will actually be teaching the same lesson to different classes across a grade, sometimes multiple times in a single day. This gives me a chance to use the knowledge I've gained from a given class and immediately implement it. If I know one class struggled with a given direction, the next time I teach the lesson I can be more explicit about that direction so as to avoid the confusion my last class encountered.
While I have not yet received feedback from my Cohort on the formative assessments I've submitted to Teach Now, I wanted to highlight a few things that I thought about based on the things I learned in my own school's PD, and how I used them during this assignment.
Improve Accuracy of Assessment:
Just like Leana - I used to do a kind of "show me on your fingers" "thumbs up/thumbs down" in-the-moment formative assessment to see when students clearly understood my directions or not. At the PD, another teacher told me about "Shake, Shake, Show" which is where students also show answers on their fingers, but they do it all simultaneously, like you would in a rock, paper, scissors, shoot game. I am modifying my assessment to this in order to make sure students are just copying each other's answers in the moment, so I have a better understanding of who is actually understanding my directions and who is not.
Better Supporting Students with Special Needs:
I brainstormed with other teachers in my PD about how to incorporate special needs learners better in my formative assessments. I have little to no experience with students who have physical disabilities, so I specifically asked about that. Luckily at my school, my peers pointed out that the students with severe physical disabilities would have a Para with them, so I realized that was a relationship I could use to support the students learning. For example, if the student could not themselves raise their hand with a number of fingers, they could tell the number to their Para who could act as their representative.
Formative assessment has and will continue to be an incredibly valuable tool in my classroom. To me, formative assessment quite simply is good teaching. You check to see if your students understood the material, and if they didn't, you find a way to help them reach the understanding you seek. Using a variety of formative assessments has supported my learners in many ways and I'm excited to continue this practice.