Reflections on Professional Learning readings
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Welcome participants from the Sunshine program. I hope you have had an opportunity to explore one of the other topics in the professional learning section of the TEAL website. We would welcome your comments and feedback on your focus topic.
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At [our] College we use Learning Intentions and Success Criteria in all our classes. We have those terms, as well as one on Reflection, on laminated magnetic labels on every white board, and it is an expectation that all teachers display their LI and SC on the board every lesson.
Clearly stating focus of the lesson, outlining what the student needs to understand, know or be able to do in that lesson/unit of work is very important, it is especially effective if it’s written on the board at the start of the lesson and remains there for the entirety of the lesson so that students can refer to it over and over again. The use of SC to indicate how students can demonstrate that they have achieved the LI is essential as well, starting each statement with ‘I can..’. e.g ‘I can select..’., ‘I can identify…’is a useful way to link to the LI. I tend to start each SC with the word ‘By…’ e.g ‘By selecting..’, ‘By identifying…’
However I can see that using ‘I can..’ makes it more personal and reflective. The one thing that I would like to investigate further is how to create an assessment rubric using the SC. -
Topic: Gathering Assessment Information
Firstly, I forgot what my topic was so my apologies if I have stolen someone else’s topic.
This professional reading got me thinking about all the different types of assessment that I use in the classroom. The professional reading has a variety of ideas, so next time I am stuck for assessment ideas I can come here.
I also like the way the trade-offs between different types of assessment, e.g. multiple choice is easy to mark but time consuming to create.
From this reading I will investigate how I can use observation more effectively. Currently I only really use it in an informal capacity, but that can leave you very biased. I will be investigating how I can subtly record observations, and fit them into the busy schedule of the classroom. I have read some material before about target students (e.g. you target two or three students for observations each week) so I might start there.
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My topic was Enhancing Teacher Feedback.
After reading the detailed information provided and a few of the many readings available, I realise the importance of asking students to reflect on their own performance before giving feedback. I don’t think I do this as much as I should. It is also crucial to give feedback that moves the students forward in their learning. The suggested question starters will be very useful as well as the sentence beginnings. Does anyone use learning logs? I would like to know more about this strategy. Overall I was very impressed with this section of TEAL. -
Topic: Involving Learners Actively in Assessment.
I’m an EAL teacher that teaches students from grades 3-6, mainly by withdrawing them and taking them in small groups at least twice a week.
I must admit, I have not really used peer or self assessment a great deal with my students. As a classroom teacher, I used assessment rubrics for projects and presentations, but as an EAL teacher with my students struggling to learn English, I didn’t feel confident in using these assessment techniques with them.
However, I was really impressed with the readings and the range of videos available on the topic. I came to realise the benefits of providing EAL students with structured self and peer assessment strategies for them to develop as autonomous learners.
In Paul Black’s video, he maintained that as long as the aims and goals for the lesson are clear, peer and self assessment empowers the students for self improvement and in turn improves the quality of learning.
I will be researching different ways I can implement these assessment strategies with my students. I will start with peer assessment, as this involves students helping each other improve their learning and provides support for each other in learning the ways to articulate their understandings.
Interesting reading. -
My topic was “Enhancing Teacher Feedback”.
After looking through this section and reading some of the readings and watching some of the videos I began to question myself as to how I give my students relevant feedback. I think giving students the time to reflect on how they are going is so important and I need to do more of it. Giving students the mentioned sentence starters to reflect on their learning will be a useful tool to use. The Teacher Feedback sentence starters will also be helpful to move students forward.
This part of the website was a wealth of information. -
Topic: Reporting and Using Assessment Information.
I am the Prep EAL teacher and withdraw students for 3x 1hour sessions each week. I provide feedback directly to my students on a daily basis; however I have not prepared any formal peer assessment tutoring with my students. As time is limited and I often only see some of these students for a few weeks I don’t believe there is time to teach the students to do this effectively. However, if I was the home room teacher and had the same students consistently I would teach the students how to effectively assess their peers. What a fabulous way for students to work together, to except each other and to value others opinions. I thought John Ross’s article was very informative and offered some practical ideas for assessment. His concept of organising a “kid Criteria” (Rubric form) which govern the curriculum guidelines, is a brilliant idea. I believe this would help students understand why they have to learn certain aspects of the domain. It may also work as a springboard for some students to direct their own learning. I can envisage this process working really positively in the upper primary grades. It could work in the lower areas pf the primary school though it would have to be modified. -
My professional learning topic was The Interrelationship between assessment, planning, teaching and learning. The main idea I came away with is that assessment is an ongoing concept, and that with our EAL students especially, formative assessment is paramount. Each EAL student is so idiosyncratic that we cannot assume that they are at a certain point on the continuum and that they will and do change where they are on the continuum depending on the task. It is important to give feedback to the student regarding assessment information in a timely manner to effectively improve their learning. The application activities 1 & 2 would be beneficial for all EAL teachers to help them consider and think about their professional practice for Afl (assessment for learning).
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