A final message:
But most of all be FAIR
Ulzhan Baekenova
4Th year student
3. Assessment
The new age of education has brought various changes to schools, teachers’ education and qualification. Teachers used to criticize students, passively assess and state mistakes. Teachers mainly used carrot and stick - incentives and punishments. Now the role of the teacher totally has changed, because a teacher is no longer the “boss” in the class, on the contrary a teacher is a tutor, a coordinator, a good psychologist and a friend. At the same time it is vital to remember the importance of maintaining professional distance between the teacher and the students: there should be a balance, a borderline which shouldn’t been crossed by students.
With modern understanding of teacher’s assessment role in the classroom has also changed. There 3 main characteristics of it:
1) Observation – be careful, do not be biased but use your eyes and ears;
2) Interpretation of data – think about students’ abilities, knowledge and potential;
3) Conclusion – the assessment itself, deciding which mark is appropriate.
ASSESSMENT is continuous process which requires consistency. With help of this system it would be easier to monitor students’ success and the level of the knowledge assimilation.
These 4 puzzles are the assessment process which has 4 components:
Effective
questioning
Sharing
criteria with students
Peer
and self-assessment
Giving
feedback
?
What these 4 components could include?
When you use these components during the lesson, the assessment process would seem easier to you. And there is a variety of methods and techniques which also could help you. Please welcome TOP 5 assessment ideas:
5. Hand in, pass out. (assessing writing and reading)
Ask students questions and have them respond on paper, then students hand their papers in. Teacher immediately randomly gives them back to students for grading. Here paper grading could be done with or without a teacher, in fact, a teacher could conduct informal poll about correct answers.
4. Quizzes (assessing writing and reading)
Here with quizzes it is important not to forget about feedback, explain correct answers, grammar etc. if needed.
3. Creating something (assessing writing, reading and speaking)
Presentations, projects, drawings, everything could be created by groups of students. Give clear instruction; give the task/problem, then give feedback.
2. 1 minute essay
Ask students to write an essay about the topic during 1 minute. Give feedback.
1. Questioning (assessing listening and speaking)
Asking students clarifying questions both individually or in groups.
Another useful techniques:
Traffic Lights.
Used for peer-assessment, student self-assessment and even as an exit slip. Green – I know this, Yellow - I may know this or I partially know this; Red – I don't know this. You can do this before a topic, during the topic and right after the topic. You can track their progress (and so can they). You can use coloured highlighters for this. Some also use coloured cups on a students desk as well. You can also laminate strips of construction paper, one of each color (r,y,g), single-hole punch on short end, and place on a ring. Students can then raise the appropriate color at any point during the class. (@brandonhebert)
Mind maps.
The Mind Maping requires that students use drawings, photos or pictures from a magazine to represent a specific concept. Mind maps could help to assess the understanding of the audio or text; they also help students to retell the story.
Dialogue/monologue
Dialogues do not only improve speaking skills, but also teach how to communicate. A teacher could create a dialogue or situation to start and develop a discussion. Monologues are also good in developing speaking skills along with improving logical thinking skills.
Case study.
Here students are given a situation which should be solved.
For example:
Outline focus of the lesson. “Today, we are going to learn about being safe.”
Ask if they understand.
Model (or provide a story) positive examples of ‘being safe’ and negative examples of ‘not being safe’, using another adult or a student. Have students label the situation as ‘safe’ or ‘not safe’.
Ask 2-3 students to give an example of a situation in which they know how to be safe.
Role-plays: some examples to use…
The recess bell rings and you need to get back to class fast. What is safe thing to do?
You have a disagreement with a friend. What is the safe thing to do?
You spill your beverage at lunch. What is the safe thing to do?
Discuss the role-play.
Ask student to write or show how they could be safe.
Encourage and support appropriate discussion/responses. Minimize attention to inappropriate responses.
Some tips which could help you assess and grade students:
Watch body language. If you pay careful attention to the body language of your students, quite often they would show understanding or a lack of understanding through their body language.
Do not forget setting clear criteria:
For example: Explain the criteria before asking questions, write them on the board or print them.
Homework checking: 3 points – answered all the questions; 2 points – knew the answers but was confused; 1 point – answered some questions; 0 – did not answer any question. Explain the criteria before asking questions, write them on the board or print them.
Work in groups: 3 points – worked in group, suggested his or her own answers; 2 points – worked in group but did not manage to answer questions thoroughly; 1 point – did not work with group but suggested own ideas; 0 points – did not participate.
Making a mind map: 3 points – actively worked in a group, helped with searching information, suggested recommendations; 2 points – worked only on searching information, did not suggest any recommendations, 1 point – did not work with information, only suggested recommendations; 0 points – did not participated.
Total score:
9 points – 5 (A mark)
4-8 points – 4 (B mark)
1-3 points – 3 (C mark)
0 points – 2 (D mark)
Create your own criteria and share them with students
Check homework regularly and say that it would be a part of the mark: homework+ activity during the lesson = total mark
Monitor the progress or regress to work on weak points
Ask students to assess their own progress
Try not to criticize students.
My experience
During my own internship in the 3rd course English teacher explained me a good strategy for assessment which she practiced for several years. First of students are given a text, which is listened, read and analyzed. Then the task of retelling is given as a home task assignment. During the next class a teacher shows criteria with the help of which retelling is assessed. I chose 5 finger retell table:
It is written on the board (or you can print several of them and give them students).
Then, after 5 minutes of preparation, the teacher asks 3-4 students. A teacher asks good students first. They retell the text with help of 5 finger retell table and get feedback from the teacher, after they get mark.
Later these 3-4 students take their seats and ask other students from their group and assess them. The process of checking home task is completed in a short time and effectively.
Students usually assess and grade each other very strictly. Students should not be allowed to see the text again; they close the books to prevent this. Some students even get “3” as a mark (C).
I find this strategy very good as it requires time and effort for effective work. You can modify it and use it in your lessons.
Another good assessment strategy is conducting quizzes. As for pre-intermediate level I prepared a quiz with 3 sections: Reading, Grammar and Writing. It was hard for students to understand the Writing part because the task was phrased the following way: “Write on the topic 100 words” and some students just started to write random English words in a column. Funny. But it was my fault.
GIVE CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS(For example, write a text on the following topic) – these are not just words.
Good luck, dear future colleagues!
The internship was tough but we did it, so you will do it too!