My Thoughts on Assessment and Final Reflections

     As I conclude my final week in my Mathematics education class I not only got a chance to learn some important new information, but also had a chance to reflect on what I learned. Each week I learned more and more about pedagogical strategies I could employ to create a rich Mathematics program, but in the end it does not mean much without proper assessment.

Developing Meaningful Assessment 

     Assessment may not be the most glamourous task a teacher is responsible for, but it is one of the most important ones that they do. Experts continue to debate on the ways that teachers should assess, but I believe that the most important requirement is that it is meaningful. When I was a student my teachers would create an environment where all I cared about was the mark at the top. Was that meaningful to my learning? Of course not! Teachers need to create methods of assessment that provide students with detailed feedback on how they can improve. My belief is that teachers need to create assessments that focus on the learning during the process rather than the product at the end. If we do this, then students will focus on how they can improve on the next task rather than being worried for that one big test. In Mathematics this is especially true because there are many students that get anxious over tests, but if they clearly demonstrated their learning over the unit why are we so concerned about one test?

Here is a link I found helpful. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/making-assessments-meaningful-heather-wolpert-gawron   

   Just like our lessons, I believe assessment also needs to be differentiated for our students. I remember one student in my placement performing poorly on summative tasks like a test, but was always the most vocal during small group work and class discussions. I realized quickly that this student was an auditory learner and was able to clearly demonstrate her learning when I had conversations with her. It was during this time that I felt like I got the most meaningful evaluation of this particular student’s learning.

     Another important belief I have about assessment that I discovered this week was that success criteria for the assessment needs to be clearly outlined for the students. Students need to be able to know exactly what they must do in order to be successful. One interesting method I learned this week is co-creating success criteria for a task with the students so they have a voice in what needs to be met in order to be successful and teachers must be fair when they are assessing from this criteria.

Final Thoughts

There is certainly a plethora of ideas and concepts I learned in these past weeks. Most importantly I learned that Math is a subject to be explored, not memorized. It is its own language that students need to discover while the teacher guides them on the right path through rich tasks and deep questioning. Finally, I learned that teachers need to get their students to believe that anyone can be successful in Mathematics with perseverance. A message that I believe can apply to everyone, no matter what obstacle you are faced with.