I feel that assessment is very important to student
learning. When I was in the classroom I would plan a pretest and a posttest for
my students. This was important because it would show growth or areas I needed
to re-teach. That was a form of summative assessment I would practice. I also
think that formative assessment is just as important. After teaching lessons I
would do a quick formative assessment to check for understanding. Now that I am
in the media center, assessing is little trickier. I do feel that I am still
assessing, however I do so in a more informal way. I feel that my assessment is
through observations. I teach students skills to become self-directed learners
and as they visit the media center, I observe to see how they use those skills.
If I notice that those skills are not being used correctly or even at all, I
might suggest to the teacher to bring their students in for a class, or address
the individual student. I wonder though is the only way that I can assess
students as a Media Specialist? This is a concern of mine, because I have a flexible
schedule which works on a as needed basis for classes. How can I truly assess a
group of student who I do not see on a regular basis? Any thoughts?
I think that assessing through observations is definitely appropriate in your role. You are observing whether or not they can actually use what they have been taught...which is more than a lot of classroom teachers are able to do! I think your studio project with the quiz at the end will be another way to assess the kids too!
ReplyDeleteI, personally, feel that the type of assessing you do, even though it is more informal, is more valuable to the students. Through your observations and feedback, your students get an immediate feeling for whether they are on the right track or not. Sometimes, I think graded assessment takes away some of the value of feedback. Yes, an "A" means I am doing well, but what, specifically, did I do well? I am so over giving a pre- and post-test. I do because I have to, because it is a requirement, not because I feel it is providing me with valuable feedback. These type of tests are multiple choice only which, as we all know, is not the most useful form of feedback.
ReplyDeleteObservation is definitely one way to conduct formative evaluation. I think it is essential especially when you want to assess whether students successfully demonstrate certain skills. Regarding another way to assess....could you maybe create a brief yes-no survey that asks students competence on skill demonstration?
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