Formative Assessment Ideas

I came across this awesome article on edutopia on Formative Assessment.   Try these 54 teacher-created examples of formative assessments + share your own:http://edut.to/1c8ebH4.   Let me know if I can help!  In flipping through some of the ideas I know that many of you do some of them already - however, they have some exciting ideas to keep Formative Assessment exciting!

Awesome Workshop Opportunity!

Last year I attended the workshop below (from the staff bulletin last week) on Formative Assessment. This was an amazing day spent reflecting on how we assess our students and use powerful instructional strategies in our teaching.    Please read the blurb below from Lori -as I would HIGHLY recommend going.   I do have the Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning book in my office if you'd like to sneak a peak - just let me know!   I hope you consider attending this awesome experience!!!  

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunity - Limited Space!

Formative Assessment: What is it? How can it make a difference?

In 2009, John Hattie wrote his groundbreaking book, Visible Learning. This book is a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses related to student achievement. In other words, Mr. Hattie reviewed all of the research related to different instructional strategies and then ranked the strategies in order of their impact on student learning. WOW!

Hattie’s research supports the work of other leaders in the field of education, including Marzano, Silver, Chappuis, Wiliam, and Knight. According to Hattie and others… One of the most powerful instructional strategies we can implement in the classroom is FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT.

Formative assessment is one of several high-impact instructional strategies that have a significant positive effect on student learning. “The achievement gains realized by students whose teachers rely on formative assessment can range from 15 to 25 percentile points or two to four grade equivalents” (Black & Wiliam,1998). “Certain formative assessment practices greatly increase the achievement of low-performing students, in some cases to the point of approaching that of high-achieving students” (Chappuis, 2009).

Do you want to get started using formative assessment in your classroom? Are you looking for simple, easy-to-implement strategies that you can start using ASAP?

The Department for Student Learning is proud to host an upcoming workshop for District 64 teachers called “The Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning.” This full-day workshop will teach you about seven formative assessment strategies that can powerfully impact student achievement. These strategies maximize the power of your lessons and are appropriate for any teacher in any content area. All participants will receive a copy of Jan Chappuis’ book Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning.

The workshop will be held on Friday, October 25 from 8:30 a.m. - 3:15 p.m. at Jefferson (Plimpton). Space is limited so sign up soon via the link below if you are interested in participating. Registrations are due by Monday, October 21. Please do not secure a substitute for this workshop until your registration is confirmed by the Department for Student Learning.

*Registration Link: Formative Assessment Workshop

*If you are unable to attend on this date but are interested in this workshop, please send Lori Hinton an email. If there are enough interested people, we may be able to offer this workshop again at a later date.

Leveled Readers & the iPads

Did you know, that you can access the Leveled Readers that are associated with Storytown on our iPads?   All you need to do is from an ipad, either scan this QR code below or go to this link.  If you are are not logged into your Google account, it will prompt you to do that first.  Then you can click on your grade level, choose your lesson, download the book, then open it in iBooks.  Quite a few teachers are using these for Running Records or in their classrooms during their reading blocks.

Do you need a step by step tutorial?  Check one out by clicking here.     If you'd like a handy print out with the QR code - click here and you can print it from Google Docs.    Let me know if you need any help!

App of the Week: NearPod

App:  NearPod

Who is it for?   K-5 (Only on cart 3 currently)

What's Nearpod?

The Nearpod platform enables teachers to use their iPads to manage content on students' iPads, iPhones or iPods. It combines presentation, collaboration, and real-time assessment tools into one integrated solution.  To create an account or log in as a teacher you need to download the Nearpod app on an iPad. The Nearpod app for iPhone or iPod allows student access only.

Nearpod can be used in all subject areas with any and all content.   Are you interested in trying it out?   Let me know and we'll try it out!!!

New Socrative Features

So, I do realize that sometimes I can be a total dork, however, in my inbox this morning was an email from Socrative saying that they had added some new features... and I got excited.

Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational exercises and games via smartphones, laptops, and tablets.  We've used it in a variety of presentations this year as well as I know many teachers are fans.   The two new updates are:

• Self Grading Quizzes
• Adding Images into Questions

For me, I'm most excited about the adding images into questions, as that's something that I've struggled with using both Socrative and Google Forms.

Richard Byrne, who writes the blog, Free Tech for Teachers, created a great video explaining these new features.   Check it out below!

Coggle

Have you heard about Coggle?  I read about this free mind mapping tool on Free Tech for Teachers over the weekend and just had to try it out.

To create a Coggle mind map just sign-in with your Google account and click the "+" icon to start your mind map. After entering the main idea of your mind map you can add branches by clicking the "+" icons that appear next to everything you type. To re-arrange elements just click on them and drag them around your screen.

Coggle is also a collaborative tool using email to invite others to view your mind map.    Unfortunately, since our students don't have access to email yet, students could not share these with each other, however, they could share them with you!

If you are interested in trying out Coggle with your students, let me know!  I'd be happy to help you and your students.  Check out the Coggle I created below to help me plan for a session with a teacher.  

Socrative

After staff development day today, I know many people use Socrative as a part of their presentation.  I just wanted to share with you how it can be used with your students.   

What is it?

Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers by engaging their classrooms with a series of educational exercises and games.  Teachers login through their device and select an activity which controls the flow of questions and games. Students simply login with their device and interact real time with the content.

What can I do with it?

Real Time Formative Assessment

Take a snapshot of student thinking through real time formative assessment. It's super easy to gather responses and get whole class participation. Just choose your question type, ask a question, and wait for responses.

• Multiple Choice Questions (Choices A-E)
• True or False
• Short Answer

Exit Tickets

Check in on your students' understanding as they head out the door. Gather responses on their comfort with the material as well as answers to questions you create in real time or prepare before class.

Quizzes (pre prepared)

You can create quizzes ahead of time and then assign them to your students to be completed as a class together or at their own pace.  You will be then e-mailed a report or download a report to your google docs after the quiz showing yours students performance.

Space Race

You can take your premade quizzes and turn them into a game!  Students will be grouped into teams randomly and they will race to complete the quiz together.  

What do I need to use Socrative?

• The teacher needs a computer or Smart Device with Socrative Teacher app loaded on it.  
• Our iPads currently do not have the teacher app. 
• The students need a computer or an iPad with the Socrative app