Double Journal Entry #11

1.      What is formative assessment?

Formal assessments are ongoing observations and reviews that measure where the students are at and/or how well they are doing during the learning process. 

2.      What is the CENTRAL purpose of formative assessment?

The central purpose of formative assessment is to improve student learning.  Through formative assessment, teachers can provide feedback to help students make improvements and learn from their mistakes.

3.      Connect a best practice in formative assessment to one research-based strategy.

Timely feedback—it is important to give students timely feedback after a formative assessment.  If the feedback does not occur close to the assessment then the comments and suggestions lose their effectiveness. 
 
4.      Give an example of how a specific assessment can be used formatively and summatively.

 A rubric can be used as a guide so that the students know what is expected of them, and then it can be used to grade the final product.

5.      Give an example from your field placement related to formative assessment and timing.

 In my placement the students have been working on writing paragraphs to get ready for the Writing Assessment Test.  During the process they brainstorm ideas, create graphic organizers, write rough drafts, and then revise their work.  It isn’t until they have had time to review and revise their work that my host teacher or I step in and offer suggestions.  This way, the students are given enough time to complete the task on their own and identify their own mistakes.

 
6.      What are some strategies to help formative assessment be more effective when providing students with feedback?

 The feedback given to a student should be timely, specific, and task focused.  The comments should provide the students with motivation to improve their work, not with the feeling of failure.  The comments should also give very specific ways to improve.  For example, instead of saying the writing shows potential, tell them they could use more descriptive words.  This gives them something concrete to work with.

7.      Name two advantages to high quality formative assessment.

 High quality formative assessment is a way for students to self monitor and keep themselves on task. With the feedback provided from the assessments they know where they stand and what they need to improve on.  Another advantage of high quality formative assessment is that teachers are able to see if a student does not understand a concept, and clear up those misconceptions early on.

 
8.      What are some challenges to implementing high quality formative assessment?

One challenge is that teachers need to vary assessments according to the specific tasks and students’ abilities.  This can be a challenge because it can be very time consuming.  Another challenge is to link assessment to instruction; the assessment must match the objectives being taught.  Finally, it is a challenge to take the formative assessment to the next level.  You don’t just want the students to get the task done, you want them to excel and expand their knowledge.

Double Journal Entry #10

Why it is the responsibility of all teachers to provided writing instruction for their students?

When students have the opportunity to read and write in all subject areas it enhances their overall achievement.  A student who is able to write and explain a particular concept will have a better understanding of it, and be more likely to remember it in the future. 

Name and describe four research-based strategies to support writing instruction for students.

 

1. Low-Stakes Writing Assignments-these are shorter assignments that ask students to explain, summarize, or outline a concept.
2. Multiple Forms of Feedback-students can receive feedback on their writing from multiple sources.  They can have a peer read their writing and give comments and suggestions, the whole class can discuss a student's writing, the student can self reflect, or the teacher can have a one on one with the student.
3. Use a Variety of Texts-reading materials other than text books are used.  For example, primary sources, fiction books, web sites, science reports, graphs, etc.
4. Variety of Levels of Reading Difficulty-not all students in the class are on the same reading level.  The teacher should have a variety of materials that meet the needs of all learners, on every level.

WebQuest Modifications

I really like the concept of the WebQuest I chose, but I want to make some changes to it to fit my science methods unit on living things in West Virginia.  First,  I want to add more pictures to the WebQuest.  It only has a picture on the first page, and I think students would be more excited about the project if they could see the pictures of all the animals they are going to be studying.  I am going to change the introduction to make it more relatable and exciting to the students; I also need to add an essential question.  In the introduction I am going to set up the focus of the lesson and what I want the students to learn from doing the WebQuest; I will relate this to the standards.  Next, I am going to change the task/process that the students are doing.  I want them to create something instead of just retelling information.  I am going to have them research their animals and their adaptations, but then I am going to have them create their own unique species of animal; where they have to think about the adaptations and the environment that species will need.  I am going to add more detailed steps and change the roles a little from how the original WebQuest is set up.  I want to make sure that the students know exactly what to do and what their role is.  I am also going to remove some of the resources from the original WebQuest.  They are really good sites, but there are so many I'm afraid it would overwhelm the students.  Finally, I will need to modify the rubric to fit the changes I have made in the WebQuest.

These are the CSOs I am using in my WebQuest:

SC.O.3.2.3
Compare physical characteristics and behaviors of living organisms and explain how they are adapted to a specific environment (e.g., beaks and feet in birds, seed dispersal, camouflage, or different types of flowers).

SC.O.3.2.4
Observe and describe relationships among organisms and predict the effect of adverse factors.

Struggling Student

The student that I am focusing on in my clinical is struggling with reading comprehension.  My host teacher had me give her a Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) last week to test her fluency and comprehension skills.  She did very well with the fluency and only missed a few of the words, but she had trouble retelling the story to me.  She could only recall the broadest details of the story and missed chunks of the story entirely.  I looked for some strategies on reading comprehension and found a graphic organizer that is a story map that I am going to use with her next week.  The story map will help her pick out the important details of the story, such as setting, characters, events, problem, and solution.  I am going to have her fill out the story map after she reads me the story and see if she is able to retell it. 

I've noticed in class that she shys away from answering questions about something that has been read or the students are supposed to read.  She is one of the students who rarely raises her hand.  I believe it is because she is having trouble with comprehension.  I hope that using a story map will give her a resource to help her improve her reading comprehension skills.