Philosophy of
Assessment
My philosophy of assessment is very clear-cut. For starters, no two students learn exactly the same way. For this reason it is imperative that teachers employ a variety of teaching strategies. I believe that the more teaching strategies I employ; peer instruction, lecture, hands on, group projects, so on so forth, the more likely students are to succeed. My classroom is a dynamic learning environment that is continuously morphing to keep students engaged in learning. Measurement of student success through these methods is central to the idea of assessment.
Assessment, should not merely take place upon the conclusion of the unit. It is important to monitor students using formative assessment; this will enable me to gauge whether or not students are grasping the content. If I feel students have a firm grasp of content halfway through a unit I can make the decision to move forward so students are not subjected to material they already know. Closely related to this is internal evaluation of my teaching strategies. It is important for me to be constantly aware of how students are responding to particular methods and to change my strategies as the situation warrants.
When a unit is concluded it is important to give students a chance to demonstrate what they have learned. Traditional unit conclusion paper and pencil written tests are one important mode for student evaluation. However, alternative assessment is a large part of my classroom dynamic. I want to students to be able to begin to think cognitively and analyze their own learning. Some of the strategies I employ are: book response journals, conferences, “I learned statements”, posters, acting, learning logs, peer work and oral presentations. These strategies encourage the student to take ownership of their work, and are valuable tools for determining student knowledge.