Assessment TIPR

While observing Mr. D and Mrs. S I saw informal formative assessments everyday when they would ask the students questions or have the students participate in classroom discussion.  I also helped the students with a formal formative assessment where they researched explorers and then created a project.  I watched an informal formative self-assessment where the students were asked how they could have done a Socratic Seminar better.  I never saw a summative assessment while observing the class.

The teachers used formative assessments to indicate how well the students understood the reading that they had done the night before.  In addition, I saw the teachers use the assessments to evaluate how well the students were grasping the material and adjusting the discussion accordingly.

One assessment that I saw had them reading lines from Hamlet, and the teacher allowed them to perform live or to film themselves learning in order to allow students with specific needs to demonstrate their learning.  Beyond that, I didn't see an other adaptations to allow students with specific needs to demonstrate their learning.  I'm not so sure that there were needs that weren't being addressed though.

In a Socratic Seminar that I didn't see, Mr. D had the students fill out a self-evaluation as well as filled out an evaluation himself which he told them what he had wrote down.  He used his feedback and their feedback to do the self-assessment which I did see.  He encouraged them to remember what they had talked about for their next Socratic Seminar.  Beyond that I did not see how the teachers gave feedback on assignments as most of it was online and outside my hours.

The biggest need that I saw inside the classroom, especially with the discussion, is there didn't seem to be any sort of equalizer making sure that every student was participating and each student's needs were being met.  For my lesson, I would like to make sure that I focus on each student to make sure that each student is being assessed and not just a few.