Pullin Teacher Work Sample

AssessmentTools

Mymentorteacherusesavarietyofassessmenttoolsinherclassroomtoevaluatestudent

learning.InsomecasesweintegratetechnologyintoassessmentbyusingPlickers,alearning

applicationthatallowsteacherstoquizstudentsanonymouslyonmaterial.Inthebeginningof

theyearweconductedseveralassessmentsonletter/soundandsightwordrecognitionthat

resultedintheformationofseveralsmallinterventiongroups.Olanderalsosubscribestoonline

literacyandmathprogramscalledLexiaandDreamboxthatprovideteachersfeedbackon

studentprogress.Additionally,wemonitorstudentsliteracyacquisitionwithDRAandDIBLES

assessments.Inconsiderationoftheearlyprimarysettingourassessmentsarefrequently

informalanddesignedtobedevelopmentallyappropriate.Weutilizeturnandtalksandother

peerdiscussiontechniquestogagestudentsunderstanding.WhenIaskstudentstothink,pairand

sharewithpartnersIwalkaroundandlistentotheirconversationstoseehowwelltheyare

understandingandarticulatingtheirideas.Analyzingstudentsproductsisalsoanimportantway

formetoseeif/howIneedtotailorfutureinstruction.Ihavefoundthisisparticularlyimportant

whenitcomestomath.EachdayduringtheindependentpracticeportionofourmathlessonI

rovearoundansweringquestionsandaskingthemtoseewherestudentsareatwiththetopic.

Thishashelpedmetocreategroupswhomightneedenrichmentthefollowingdayandalsopair

studentssotheycanteacheachother.AfterthelessonsIlookovertheirworksheetsduringmy

planperiodinordertogetevenmoreinformationandidentifysharedpatternsofneedand

misconceptions.Thishasprovedtobeawonderfulopportunityformetolearnaboutstudents

strengthsandareasforgrowth.
Pullin Teacher Work Sample

Iusedarangeofstrategieswithinmyunittoassessifstudentswereachievingthe

learningobjectives.TobegintheunitIconductedastudentfocusedpreassessmentintheform

ofaKWL.StudentssharedwhattheyalreadyknewaboutmapsandIwaspleasantlysurprised

bywhattheyalreadyknew!ThroughouttheunitIalsoincorporatedpeerdiscussions(turnand

talks),lotsofconversationswithstudentsindividuallyduringactivitytimes,andgenerous

amountsofquestioningduringlessons.Ialsoconductedcontinuousinformalassessmentsbased

onparticipation,studentresponses,andreflectionontheendresultsoftheirproducts.

PreandPostAssessment

ForapreandpostassessmentIusedaKWL.IchoseaKWLfortwoprimaryreasonsI

feltthattheKWLwouldprovideavaluableopportunitytoactivatestudentsbackground

knowledgeandalsomotivatethemtolearnaboutanewtopic.Duringthefirstlessonwe

completedtheKnowandWanttoknowportionstogetherasaclass.Irecordedallstudent

ideasregardlessofwhetherwewouldansweroraddressthatspecificideawithintheunit

becauseIwantedstudentstofeelheardandempowered.Studentswereeagertosharewhatthey

alreadyandknewandwerewondering.Duringthelastlesson,lesson6,wecompletedthe

Learnedsection.Studentsdemonstratedtheirexcitementaboutthematerialandreadilyoffered

ideas.IwrotedowneverystudentsresponseintheLearnedcolumn.

FormativeAssessments

Iconductedformativeassessmentswithineachlessoninavarietyofways.Oneofthe

informaltoolsIusedmostfrequentlywasprovidingstudentsopportunitiestopairandshareto

processcontent.Ilistenedattentivelytopartnerdiscussionstogagewhatstudentsunderstood

andwhatmightneedtoberetaught.Ialsodesignedlessonssothatstudentswouldhave
Pullin Teacher Work Sample

opportunitiestoworktogether.Thisallowedstudentstoevaluateeachotherandteacheach

other.Forexample,duringthefirstlessonstudentsquizzedeachotherusingthecompassroses

thattheyhadcreatedtolocateobjectsintheclassroom.Ivisitedandlistenedtoeachpartnership

andthecluesandanswerstheyweregiving.Inseveralinstancesstudentswereabletocorrect

eachotherandexplaintheirthinking.Additionally,Iusedavarietyofquestionstoassess

learningagainsttheobjectivesandprovokealllevelsofthinking.Iwrotequestionsintomy

lessonsplanwithgreatintentionforthepurposeofpromotingstudentunderstandinganddeeper

thinking.AnothertypeofformativeassessmentIutilizedwasassessingstudentproducts.For

instance,Icarefullyexaminedthecompassrose,mapsworksheet,deskmap,MeontheMap

bookletandexitticketsthatstudentsproducedduringtheunitlessonsinordertoinformmy

instructionandassessprogresstowardslearningobjectives.

FinalAssessment

Thesummativeassessmentfortheunitwasthemapofstudentsbedroom.Studentswere

askedtocreateamapoftheirbedroomathomecompletewithacompassrose(withNorth,

South,EastandWest),theitemsintheirrooms,amapkey,birdseyeview,andatitle.Students

hadoneweektocompletetheproject.Thepaperanddirectionsforthemapwereprovidedby

meandsenthomewithstudentsinFridayfolders.Thedirectionsaskedparentstohelpasneeded

buttoallowtheirchildrentobetheprimarycreatorofthisspecialproject.Lesson5MapofMy

Deskwasdesignedtopreparestudentsforcreatingasimilarmapindependentlyathome.