Pulling Your Thinking Together to Take Next Steps

Now that you have had three learning experiences involving assessment for learning practices you should be able to try out a few ideas within your practicum. Your overall purpose is to design opportunities within your instructional design that will allow you to check on students' understanding throughout the lesson. Then you can provide opportunities for students to move forward with their learning while you or a support person takes a small group to target instruction more intensely to clarify meaning for others. Community of learners, as Jessa says, is a critical component to keeping the flow of learning going. It will be difficult to manage the diversity of learners within the classroom if they don't have guidelines and understanding of what learning should look, sound and feel like. See what you can manage to do in consultation with your sponsor teacher or perhaps your support teacher, counsellor, speech and language pathologist or educational assistant. As professionals we are trying to work more as a collaborative team in taking collective responsibility for learning in the classroom. Every school and classroom is different so you will have to check out what the possibilities are in your location. Good luck on your practicums and happy learning! If you have a great idea to share and want to tell us how it goes, feel free to blog away.

Clarifying Understanding

How is your understanding developing after Tuesday's class with Paige regarding assessment practices? I would be interested to hear how you are piecing the concepts together. Last week we realized that this will be a long process and these aren't practices you can completely understand within one or two sessions of information. Each week should help you take one step closer in being able to try one or two ideas within your practicum.
I would appreciate if those that didn't post a comment last week try to post this time so I know you can manage the technology. If you need help please let me know. Thanks to those that shared thoughts last week.

Talking about Assessment for Learning

It was great to meet all of you today and explore the assessment for learning practices with students from Brechin Elementary. Hopefully each of you will take away at least one thing that you can use to move your learning forward in this area and support students with their learning. Let me know your thoughts by commenting on the blog and joining as a follower.

Keep on Learning

Starting a new phase of my teaching learning journey....my work with student teachers and teachers has led me to coaching a group of learners in exploring assessment practices. My particular passion lies in assessment for learning practices because of its particular capacity to engage and augment any learning situation. When I reflect on my own learning I am constantly trying to incorporate the assessment for learning practices to help me clarify understanding. In otherwards, I try to practice what I teach. (or is it preach) Either way when we use these assessment for learning tools we become effective learners.
Take the time to reflect on your own learning and try to incorporate the assessment for learning tools as you learn them to support your understanding. Tell us what you notice and we'll build on that thinking. Cheers!