Assessment

Formative Assessments and Progress monitoring

Summative Assessments

Diagnostic Assessments: These can be questions with open ended answers or multiple choice answers. When we leave the questions open for the students to answer in paragraph form, we can get an understanding of how they view a topic. When we can know what a student believes, this can help us guide students to a fuller understanding.

Performance Assessment

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quizzes

continuous question and answer

Bench marks of steps in project based learning

Lexia; Kahoot, in class sheets

These online apps can make a class fun or different, to keep the class fresh and interesting

Keeping students engaged is an important part of a lesson, If a teacher must present in a dialog, or even if videos, teamwork or some other communication for is being used, presenting information in the form of a question is much more engaging for listeners. It brings them into a participation role rather than a listening role. In this way, questions with signaling hands or spoken answers is both about engagement as well as monitoring understanding and guiding what is taught.

Project based learning can have a duration of any length. Therefore it is extra important that we find places within the project to monitor learning and use what we see to help adjust learning. In a PBL experience, we should also take into consideration the roles that each student has taken on, and assess the students as individuals within a larger hole. Is the student being allowed to take part (treated fairly by others)? What is the skill that they are using? Are their ideas being used? Do they, as a team, understand the goals? on and on...

Measuring outcomes

Developing grades

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Grades can be created in other ways, but measuring success of learning is often done at the end of a course or segment of a course through tests. It can also be done by adding together quizzes over time. Behavior or participation can be added to a formula, but tests often take a large role in the calculation.

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Final Tests, essays, presentations or finished projects

Quiz vs Conversation format to questions

It is important to have insight into what our students already know. With this information, we can know where to start with our class. Asking for students to tell us what the know about a topic is also a great way to lead into a topic, "to get the ball rolling." But it will also give us a chance to clear some misconceptions as we start. Yet some teachers may choose to put the questions not in a conversation, but into a pre-topic quiz. This can keep the knowledge private and also give information about each student rather than the ones that want to share.

Pre-assessments

Class Critique: A critique can give a chance for students to explain what they are doing. It also allows other people besides the teacher to give their thoughts of a project. In this way, the student can get negative news from other sources besides the teacher, thereby preserving the relationship between the teacher and student. The teacher can kindly agree by saying, "It sounds like you could improve this if you work on..." rather than "I think your ... is not done as well as it should be and you can improve it by..."

Self assessment: having students review their own work can be useful in a situation where they are building skills. Sometimes when a student is learning a skill, we are not sure if they know where they are needing improvement. Having them self-assess, we then hear their own opinion on that skill. This helps us know their understanding besides what is seen in their production.

Performance Assessments in Music Class

The assessments include students in hearing, evaluating, producing, and transcribing music in innovative contexts. The replies of the students are prompted by musical pieces from various genres.

Written Performance Procedure

  1. Recognize the terminology and basic elements of musical notation, including the tempo, clef, bar, time signature, note names, note values, and pitch connections.
  1. Create and record a musical or rhythmic phrase.
  1. Determine, compare, and contrast the instrumentation, dynamics, mood, tempo, and major/minor key in various musical compositions.
  1. Match notation to music.
  1. Express and justify musical preferences and choices.
  1. Identify the roles in music (performer, listener, composer, critic, arranger).
  1. When writing about music, have a certain objective in mind

Assess student knowledge in subject matter through the use of "Random Name Selector" for online and hybrid classes and popsicle sticks with student's names on them for physical classroom environment.

Assess student's academic growth through a series of short reading passages, spelling lists, and phonemic awareness weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.