You are on page 1of 3

Assessment: a tool to instill the love of learning

All students are expected to achieve their utmost potential in a safe and comfortable
learning environment. Therefore, a teacher must use both formal and summative assessment to
support students throughout the learning process. By using these forms of assessment, I believe
the students progress will help develop the love of learning.
Formative assessment is the ongoing process where the teacher must be able to identify
what the students know, what they are capable of achieving, and to make the necessary
adjustments to help promote and improve student achievement. This ongoing work-in-progress
must motivate students to take positive risks with confidence. I believe it would be advantageous
for both teacher and students to work in unison to achieve the greatest results. To help achieve
this, I believe providing positive comments, as effective feedback would help students gain a
better understanding of how they can improve their work and help take ownership of their
learning. Numerical scores, on the other hand, I believe can be competitive for some, but for
low-achievers, this may negatively affect their self-esteem and their desire to learn. It is my
greatest desire to teach, guide and motivate children as they learn and become life long learners.
Assessment for learning is the identification of the students knowledge, preconceptions,
and/or confusions that must be identified and redirected if necessary by the teacher in to help
promote student achievement as they proceed through the learning continuum. Once the
students learning stage has been identified, the teacher must facilitate to the next step at the
students pace.
Another component of formative assessment includes assessment as learning.
Assessment as learning involves the student to take a more active role in their learning as they
monitor, make adjustments and reflect. This will help the student become an effective learner. I
believe teaching students such skills as: how to self-assess their achievements, and how to
identify and achieve their goals for improvement will have positive results. Peer assessment and
guidance can also be used, but once again, it must be supported by the teachers set goals.
However, success can be achieved once the teacher and student become partners in the learning
process as they share responsibility for the student to become ongoing active learners.
I believe it would be beneficial to use a variety of assessment for learning tools to help
students take an active role as they monitor, reflect, and make goals for improvement to help
enhance their understanding of the given concept. I believe positive feedback greatly influences
the students desire to achieve. It promotes self-esteem and enhances a greater understanding of
the students work rather than focusing on the individual. To help promote a collaborative
atmosphere, one of these tools would include Two Stars and a Wish. As a teacher, I would use
this strategy by giving the student two positive comments (stars) and one suggestion for
improvement (wish). Another example I would use to help the students become more interactive
is Articulate Then Answer. This strategy is used when the teacher asks an effective question
that will not be a yes or no nor be answered immediately. Students will be given 30 seconds to
think before answering. Next, students will brainstorm in small groups for a few minutes
followed by writing their response(s). This method promotes collaboration while learning from
their peers.

Based on using strategies such as these, I believe there will be an improvement in student
achievement as they take an active role in learning and developing communication skills. From
their feedback, I will learn to reinforce the lesson or focus on various strategies used to scaffold
to the next level. For greater success, I must also adapt these strategies to various learning styles
to fit these unique individuals. Therefore, I believe it is vital to give a wide variety of options to
students when it comes to class assignments to allow students to identify their learning styles
based upon their interests, needs, and their level of achievement. For example, the class would be
given the opportunity to design a method of assessment such as a checklist and/or a rubric. This
would allow the students to have input and take responsibility for developing this form of
assessment. While this is in progress, students will be learning the necessary skills involving
cooperation, collecting and organizing data. As a result, students will be able to identify exactly
what is required to obtain the highest level of achievement.
Classroom assessment is essential as teacher and student collaborate to meet the students
needs based on their strengths. Overall, the accuracy of the assessment is reflected by the
students success through the teachers guidance where the ultimate goal is to promote learning
and increase student academic abilities. The teacher must be able to identify the students present
knowledge, understanding, and any other characteristics that may influence distort learning. In
other words, the teacher will assess when necessary so that the student can excel from an
emergent to a proficient level of achievement. I believe the one-size-fits-all instruction method is
no longer acceptable and a greater emphasis is to be placed on motivating students to
accommodate their needs. I must be able to decide when, how, and what is best to assess in order
for the students to move forward. Therefore, taking into consideration of the individuals
strengths and weaknesses, I must be able to interpret all forms of assessment wisely.
It is also important to incorporate summative assessment and how it reflects towards the
individual rather than the class as a whole. Summative assessment is usually given at the end of a
unit or term to help finalize the students overall academic achievement. This form of assessment
incorporates the assessment of learning as it identifies the students ability in relation to meeting
the curriculum objectives. Using this form, the teacher, student, and parents have a better
understanding of the childs strengths and weaknesses pertaining to the material covered.
However, I believe it is vital parents be informed of the cumulative achievements throughout the
term rather than having parents see only the final summative assessment.
I believe it is essential that the students academic and social growths are identified as the
teachers utmost interest. By having a balance of various assessment strategies based upon the
needs of the students, academic achievement will increase providing that the teacher does special
planning with regards to the strengths and weaknesses of the students in conjunction to/with their
interest, and their desire to learn. It is vital that students are motivated and have a love for
learning in order to provide the greatest achievement. I believe students will achieve as long as
the teacher and student believes they are capable of obtaining success. Once this has been
achieved, a seed for the love of learning has been planted and the growing begins to develop.

References
Black,P.,Harrison,C.,Lee,C.,Marshall,B.,&William,D.(2004).WorkingInsidetheBlack
Box:AssessmentforLearningintheClassroom.86,921.
Earl,L.(2006).Rethinkingclassroomassessmentwithpurposeinmind:Assessmentfor
learning,assessmentaslearning,assessmentoflearning.Winnipeg:Manitoba
Education,CitizenshipandYouth.

You might also like