by Alicia Logie
As I have developed as a teacher-learner, particularly as assessment and evaluation began to occupy more and more of my thinking, I began asking myself the question: What do I learn from the assessment/evaluation I do with my students?
And also, what do THEY learn from the assessment we do in class?
So recently, with the group of adult students taking a course (in French) on Evaluation and Assessment in the Classroom, I asked them to tell me what they had learned. Half of the students were practicing teachers and half were teacher-candidates in their first semester of studies. What they related spoke of the powerful changes that had happened over the course of our time together. I had decided to model one of the effective strategies for assessment and grading that we had discussed, so for their last class I conducted evaluation conferences where each student had 10-15 minutes to summarize their learning, speak of future goals and negotiate a mark with me.
My Students’ Learning Goals:
I am going to focus more on the learning and less on the marks.
I am going to do more formative assessment and less summative.
I am going to remember that the marks do not motivate the learning, the descriptive feedback does.
I am going to give students more practice time, include them in their assessment and collaborate on criteria for assignments.
I went into a conference with parents who are quite difficult and I felt calm and confident. I tried to figure out why- in the past I would have been nervous and anxious. I realized I now had confidence; confidence that I had all the information I needed to accurately and meaningfully discuss the progress of their child, that there was research that backed me up, that I am not the only teacher who assesses this way- there are many of us! And we are doing the right things!
I am going to remember that it is about the learning!
My Learning Goals:
I learned that looking at real examples of good assessment practice in action – TOGETHER – is what gives us the courage to assess in ways that support student learning. My goal is to continue to create opportunities for dialogue that expand our thinking, and give us courage to change.
Alicia Logie is the French Immersion Helping Teacher (conseillere pedagogique) for the Surrey School District. She also teaches university level teacher-training courses.
