USA (English)
A veteran teacher can teach a lesson and then instinctively tell you which students have it and which don’t. It’s a skill called formative assessment. It’s a way of receiving and understanding feedback from students.
In my 25 years as an elementary school teacher, I’ve learned that this feedback comes in three main forms.
I can read clues as to my students’ understanding by watching them. Where are their eyes? Are they engaged? I like to use individual whiteboards so my students can demonstrate their understanding. I gain information simply from asking them to hold up their boards.
Teachers love to use physical signals to measure understanding. This can be as simple as having students raise their hands, or using a prompt phrase.
“Give me a thumbs up if you got the correct answer.”
“Give me a thumbs up if you have it, a fist if you’re almost there or a thumbs down if you need more help.”
“Show me one, two or three fingers. One if you’re struggling, two if you’re almost there and three if you could teach someone else.”
Teachers use many hand signals effectively. I’ve found kids respond more honestly if I have them hold their hand signal in front of their chest.
Old fashioned formative assessment usually takes the form of worksheets, exit slips and similar tools. They’ve been around for decades because they work. They also provide hard data about each student’s level of proficiency. However, it takes more teacher time to assess, plan and move forward based on these assessment tools. A teacher’s time is valuable, so we often search for more efficient ways to measure understanding.
Integrating technology with old school formative assessment makes the process more efficient. I like to use SMART’s Lumio platform. It packages all of the great SMART resources from the past decade into one location: SMART Notebook, SMART Amp, SMART Lab, Senteo (SMART Response), as well as digital manipulatives and online resources like YouTube.
Students can follow along on their screen as I am in the front of the class teaching. When I need to get a measure of understanding, I simply advance to a slide where I can check. This can be done in game format (Lab), question format (Response), brainstorm format (Shout it Out) or by simply creating an individual workspace (Amp). I can blend teacher-directed guided instruction with individual practice. It really is a game changer in my classroom.
See an example of using Lumio to teach a Grade 4 math lesson on tenths and hundredths.
I use the “Teacher Paced” option to begin the lesson. Then, when students work in their math books, I change it to “Student Paced.” I love this feature because it frees me up to help those who need individual attention. I can also push out the math workbook page as an Individual Workspace. This allows me to check student answers on this page of the lesson. The lesson ends with a Response quiz set, which I can use for data if needed.
I believe assessment can be engaging, and I’m always embracing the best practices, old and new. I blend all these proven styles of formative assessment – visual, signals and old school methods (with new-school tech) – into my daily instruction.
What are your best tricks to assess your learners?