Formative assessment in the classroom

Summary

This script discusses the implementation of formative assessment strategies in a classroom setting to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. The teacher utilizes tools like random selection and a Learning Intentions Wall to foster inclusivity and self-assessment. Professional development in formative assessment has led to improved numeracy and literacy, with students showing increased confidence and a sense of ownership over their learning. Collaborative coaching between teachers further refines teaching practices, benefiting student achievement.

Takeaways

• 📚 The teacher uses a variety of formative assessment strategies to enhance learning across all subjects.
• 🎯 A random selection tool is employed to ensure equal opportunities and active participation from all students.
• 🤝 The approach encourages students to ask for help from peers, fostering collaboration in the learning environment.
• 🏫 Formative assessment is a school-wide initiative, supported by professional development and implemented in all grades.
• 🔍 It aims to gather information about student understanding to provide feedback that informs teaching practices.
• 📈 The teacher adapts lessons based on student feedback to better support their learning needs.
• 📉 The Learning Intentions Wall is a tool for setting clear learning goals and allowing students to self-assess their progress.
• 🟢🟠🔴 Students use a traffic light system to indicate their level of understanding and need for support.
• 💬 Formative assessment strategies enable students to reflect independently on their learning and seek support when needed.
• 📉 Immediate feedback mechanisms, like mini whiteboards and stickers, allow for real-time adjustments in teaching.
• 📈 There has been a significant increase in student outcomes and confidence as a result of formative assessment strategies.
• 👥 Collaborative teaching, where teachers work closely together, enhances teaching practices and student outcomes.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of using a random selection tool in the classroom?

The primary purpose of using a random selection tool is to create equal opportunities for students and to encourage active participation from everyone, ensuring that not just one student dominates the class discussions.

How does the random selection tool foster collaboration among students?

The random selection tool fosters collaboration by allowing students who are unsure of an answer to ask their peers for help, thus promoting a collaborative learning environment.

What is the role of formative assessment in the school's educational approach?

Formative assessment is used to gain information about student understanding and to provide teachers with feedback that informs their teaching practices, making it an integral part of the school's educational approach.

How does the teacher adapt lessons based on formative assessment feedback?

The teacher uses the feedback from formative assessments to adjust lessons and activities to better support students' learning needs, making teaching more responsive and tailored to student progress.

What strategies does the school implement to embed formative assessment across all grades and learning areas?

The school implements a range of professional development programs focused on formative assessment strategies, ensuring its implementation across all grades and learning areas.

Can you explain the concept of the 'Learning Intentions Wall' used in the classroom?

The 'Learning Intentions Wall' is a visual tool displayed in the classroom that helps articulate the learning objectives for each lesson. Students move their photos on the wall to indicate their level of understanding or mastery of the learning intention at the end of the lesson.

How do students reflect on their own learning using the 'Learning Intentions Wall'?

Students reflect on their own learning by moving their photos to different color-coded sections on the 'Learning Intentions Wall' based on their self-assessment of their understanding and ability to meet the learning intention.

What immediate feedback mechanisms are used in the classroom to support student learning?

Immediate feedback mechanisms include the use of mini whiteboards and traffic light stickers (green, amber, red), which allow students to reflect on their achievement and receive immediate adjustments to lessons or tasks.

How do traffic light stickers help in the formative assessment process?

Traffic light stickers (green, amber, red) enable students to self-assess their achievement against the learning intention or goal, with green indicating mastery, amber indicating ongoing work with some support needed, and red indicating significant support is required.

What has been the impact of implementing formative assessment strategies on student outcomes and confidence?

The implementation of formative assessment strategies has led to a significant increase in student outcomes across all learning areas, improved student engagement and participation, and enhanced student confidence in their learning abilities.

How does collaborative coaching between teachers enhance teaching practices and student outcomes?

Collaborative coaching allows teachers to share strengths, learn from one another, and provide feedback to improve lessons, which in turn enhances teaching practices and leads to better student learning outcomes.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Fostering Inclusive Classroom Participation

This paragraph discusses the use of formative assessment strategies to enhance classroom participation and inclusion. The teacher employs a random selection tool to ensure all students have equal opportunities to engage in learning activities. This method not only promotes active participation but also encourages students to collaborate and seek help when needed. The teacher emphasizes the importance of formative assessment in gaining insights into student understanding and using this feedback to adapt teaching practices. The implementation of formative assessment across the school is highlighted, along with its role in professional development and its impact on lesson planning and student engagement.

05:02

🚀 Enhancing Student Outcomes and Confidence

The second paragraph focuses on the positive outcomes of implementing formative assessment strategies in numeracy and literacy lessons. The teacher observes a significant increase in student engagement, participation, and understanding of their learning objectives. Students are described as taking on a greater sense of ownership and purpose in their activities. The paragraph also highlights the benefits of collaborative team teaching, where teachers work closely together, sharing strengths and learning from one another. This approach is shown to improve teaching practices and, consequently, enhance student learning outcomes. The use of collaborative coaching for feedback and improvement is also mentioned as a valuable professional development tool.

Keywords

💡Formative Assessment

Formative assessment is a method of gathering information about student learning during the educational process. It is used to adjust teaching methods and provide feedback to students. In the video, formative assessment is a central theme, with strategies such as random selection tools and learning intentions walls being utilized to improve student engagement and understanding. It is mentioned as a tool for gaining information about student understanding and informing teaching practices.

💡Random Selection Tool

A random selection tool is a method used to choose students at random for participation in class activities or discussions. In the video, the teacher uses this tool to ensure equal opportunities for all students, encouraging active participation and preventing one student from dominating the class discussions. It exemplifies the teacher's approach to fostering an inclusive classroom environment.

💡Active Participation

Active participation refers to students' engagement in the learning process, such as answering questions or reflecting on their learning. The video emphasizes the importance of active participation, which is facilitated by the use of formative assessment strategies, ensuring that all students are ready and willing to contribute to class activities.

💡Inclusion

Inclusion in an educational context means ensuring that all students, regardless of their abilities or backgrounds, are valued and involved in the learning process. The script discusses how the use of formative assessment strategies promotes inclusion by giving every student a chance to participate and reflect, thus creating a more equitable classroom.

💡Collaboration

Collaboration is the act of working together to achieve a common goal. In the script, the teacher mentions that if a student is unsure of an answer, they can ask a friend, which encourages collaboration among students and contributes to a supportive learning environment.

💡Professional Development

Professional development refers to the process of acquiring new skills and knowledge to improve professional practice. The video mentions that the school has done a lot of professional development in formative assessment, which has led to its successful implementation across all grades and learning areas.

💡Learning Intentions Wall

The Learning Intentions Wall is a visual tool used to display the goals or objectives of a lesson. In the video, it is described as a way for the teacher and students to articulate and reflect on the learning intentions at the start and end of a lesson, helping students to self-assess their progress.

💡Numeracy

Numeracy refers to the ability to understand and work with numbers. The script specifically mentions the use of formative assessment strategies in the area of numeracy, indicating that these strategies are applied to improve students' skills in mathematical understanding and problem-solving.

💡Self-Assessment

Self-assessment is the process where students evaluate their own learning and understanding. The video highlights that students are now able to reflect on their own learning independently, using tools like the Learning Intentions Wall, which shows their increased confidence and capability in assessing themselves.

💡Traffic Lights

In the context of the video, 'traffic lights' refer to a color-coding system using green, amber, and red stickers to indicate students' self-assessment of their learning. Green indicates that the student feels they have met the learning intention, amber suggests ongoing work with some support needed, and red signifies the need for significant support.

💡Collaborative Coaching

Collaborative coaching is a professional development method where teachers work together to provide feedback and improve teaching practices. The script describes how the teacher and Kathleen use this approach to learn from each other, enhance their lessons, and ultimately improve student outcomes.

💡Team Teaching

Team teaching is an educational approach where two or more teachers work together to plan, instruct, and assess student learning. In the video, the teacher finds it beneficial to work closely with a teaching partner, sharing strengths and strategies to improve teaching practices and student learning outcomes.

Highlights

Use of formative assessment strategies across all learning areas to create equal opportunities and encourage active participation.

Random selection tool implemented to ensure all students have a chance to participate.

Formative assessment fosters inclusion and collaboration within the classroom.

Professional development in formative assessment is conducted across all grades and learning areas.

Formative assessment provides feedback to inform and improve teaching practices.

Students are encouraged to reflect on their learning and seek support when needed.

Formative assessment strategies are embedded in the school's teaching approach.

Learning Intentions Wall helps articulate and track student progress towards learning goals.

Students self-assess their understanding and progress using a color-coded system.

Formative assessment strategies enable students to reflect independently and honestly on their learning.

Immediate feedback through tools like mini whiteboards and traffic light stickers allows for lesson adjustments.

Traffic light system helps students self-assess their achievement based on learning intentions.

Significant increase in student outcomes and confidence observed through formative assessment.

Greater student engagement and participation noticed across all learning areas.

Students demonstrate a deeper understanding and sense of ownership over their learning.

Collaborative coaching between teachers enhances lesson planning and student outcomes.

Team teaching allows for sharing of strengths and ideas, improving teaching practices.

Transcripts

I use a range of formative assessment strategies

within my classroom across all learning areas.

I often use the random selection tool

to choose students at random for different learning activities

whether it's in response to a question or to reflect on learning.

I find that this creates equal opportunities for students

and it encourages active participation from everybody

so it's not always the one kid that has their hand up all the time.

It just means that everybody is always ready to answer a question when it's asked

or to reflect on something, so I feel like it just encourages inclusion within the classroom

and if a student is unsure of an answer, they're able to ask a friend,

which also fosters collaboration within our learning environment.

So formative assessment is embedded across our school.

We do a lot of professional development in formative assessment

and it's implemented across all grades and all learning areas.

So formative assessment is used to gain information about student understanding

and provide teachers with feedback that informs their practice.

So this information that I get from the students,

whether it's through written feedback or whether it's through verbal feedback,

I'm able to then take that and use it to inform my future teaching practices

and change lessons depending on the student feedback for me.

So it's a not a matter of set lessons anymore,

it's about looking at where students are at

and their engagement, their response to particular tasks and activities

and then redirecting lessons to better support them in where they are at.

So Amaroo has started implementing formative assessment this year

and so through professional development, we've been learning about a range of strategies

so I use information by observations of my students during the class time

and I engage in conversations with my teaching partner

and all of these strategies inform my future planning.

In my classroom, particularly around the area of numeracy,

I use a range of formative assessment strategies.

One of these is my Learning Intentions Wall

so it's displayed in our classroom and at the beginning of the lesson,

my students and I talk about what the learning intentions are,

what we want to learn is going to be,

so it's a great way for myself and my students to articulate the learning

that is going to be happening during that lesson

and so at the end of the lesson once we've completed all of their learning activities,

the students are then able to move their photo depending on where they think they are sitting

according to that learning intention.

For example I can add two numbers together to make 10.

If they feel that they are able to do that independently by themselves,

then they move their photo to the green.

If they need support from myself but they are able to do some by themselves,

then they move to orange.

And if they are still needing support for the whole thing, then they go on to red.

And it's a really great way for myself and other teachers and parents

to be able to see where the students feel that

they are sitting according to that learning intention.

So a big result of my students learning using formative assessment strategies is that

they are now able to reflect on their own learning independently

and they're able to ask for support for me to help them

but my students are now good to use it on a daily basis,

they're very confident and capable of assessing them themselves, by themselves,

and they're very honest about it which I think is great.

Through the use of the formative assessment strategies such as my Learning Intentions Wall

and also mini whiteboards, I'm able to give my students immediate feedback

so I can alter the lesson or the task immediately

so that it's actually meaningful and significant for their abilities and capabilities.

Through the use of traffic lights, so using green amber and red stickers,

they're able to reflect on their achievement in their work

based on the learning intention or the learning goal.

So they put a green sticker on if they feel like they've met the learning intention,

an orange one if they feel like they're still working on it and they need a little bit of support

and a red if they felt like they need a quite a bit of prompting

or they still really need quite a bit of support to make that in the future.

Since implementing a range of formative assessment strategies,

we have seen a huge change in our students' outcomes and also their confidence

and we find the implementation of formative assessment

really useful in numeracy and literacy lessons.

So I've noticed a significant increase in student outcomes

across all learning areas through the use of formative assessment.

I've seen greater student engagement and student participation through these strategies

and I feel like students have a greater understanding of what it is that they're doing

and what it is that they're trying to achieve

and I feel like they have taken on a greater sense of ownership

and purpose for doing those activities.

Kathleen and I work very closely together.

We plan together, program together

and then often teach lessons together

which I find is a really amazing tool for myself as a professional

to be able to work alongside somebody so closely.

Kathleen and I learn lots from one another.

I know that I've gained lots of skills and different learning techniques from her

and being able to also give her some of those opportunities through watching me teach

so we use collaborative coaching as a form of giving each other feedback

to improve our lessons and to then enhance student outcomes.

So as collaborative team teaching is a huge part of Amaroo,

I found it really useful working with my teaching partner

because we've been able to share our strengths and put these strengths together

and so I have gained some new strategies

and some new ideas from my teaching partner and her strengths

and I'm also able to share my strengths with her

so it just improves both of our teaching practices

which will therefore improve our students' learning outcomes.