Providing students timely and accurate feedback on their learning is one of the most important parts of teaching. Learn more about assessment, evaluation and measuring student learning. In this #2ndaryELA Twitter chat recap, teachers share common assessments they use, explain their favourite assignment types and explain how they use assessment data.
Q1: What types of informal assessments do you use to measure learning in your classroom?
A1: I use formative assessments such as entrance/exit tickets, journal questions, and verbal “quizzes”.
A1: I do a lot of quick writes, journal writing and quizzes to check in with students about their learning.
A1: Responses to warm-ups, games like Kahoot, Quizlet, class discussions, rough drafts
A1: We start every class with choice reading or writing, so I confer with Ss during this time. Each Ss has a page in my notebook where I document our chats.
Q2: What is your favorite or most creative way of assessing students?
A2: Plickers! 🙂
A2: I love to assess students using creative projects such as creating a video or integrating art etc. I think a balance of assessment types projects, essays and tests are important.
A2: I tried out creating Hyperdocs in Google Slides as a way to teach grammar this year and love it! I found all kinds of online practice and used Google Forms for the final assessment. Â
A2: Love our FRIDAY open mic. I can assess writing, speaking, listening, and reading while Ss perform and host the event.
A2: I love quick writes! I just recently did one with my students.
A2: I love quizlet live for practice. I use Quizlet test feature for informal- I actually print mine out so I can run 2-3 different quizzes at the same time (reduce cheating) and I can change the quiz structure without losing the content for modified assignments
Q3: Are you required to use certain formal assessments or do you design your own?
A3: All assessments are made by the teacher where I teach. I create all my own assessments. We do have to administer a reading test twice each year to determine student reading levels.
A3: No required assessments in class. We do the MAP testing 3x a year plus state testing in the spring
A3: Summative assessments have to be the same across the grade level.
A3: We don’t have any official common assessments other than MAP tests.
A3: We can do whatever we want for formative assessments so I create my own.
A3: We MAP test 2x a yr, fall, and winter. County issued quarterly multiple-choice assessments- NOT text specific, designed like PARCC.
A3: continued- quarterly Performance-based assessments – designed by county – graded by the teacher, mostly essay/project design.
Q4: Are your assessments based on standards? Skills? Content? How does that affect the design?
A4: Assessments are a demonstration of skills and concepts taught in a unit. They align with our curriculum standards. I assess most things using a Level 1 – 4 Rubric.
A4: That affects the summative assessments for sure – we want to use the correct question stems that match the standards and the standardized tests.
A4: Some assessments based on standards, i.e. grammar quiz focused on a standard that has lots of practice of that standard leading up to it
A4: Other assessments require content knowledge but are still focused on standards, i.e. a quiz on the class novel would require students to have read, but questions would test standards rather than what happened
A4: Our assessments are based on accurate execution of the skills based on standards.
A4: Standards-based which I like b/c I can choose various resources.
A4: I try to balance standards and aesthetic response. I want to know what they know, how they know it, and why it matters or resonates.
Q5: How do you use data from assessments to plan future lessons?
A5: I use data to figure out what Ss know – and can, therefore, be enriched – and what students still need to know which may require re-teaching
A5: Data lets you know who needs more support, if a lesson needs to be taught again to everyone if students have mastered a skill and you can move on, and where you need to improve next year
A5: I use my data to see what worked and what needs to be retaught. I also know how to group my students for small group instruction based on my data.
A5: If I notice that a trend of missing info is present I work it in next unit. Make sure I note it for following year. If handful in same class miss it, I look outside factors like seating, absences etc. I also do a quarterly survey where I solicit feedback on the unit.
Additional Assessment Resources
- ELA Grading Policies and Tips
- How to Write Long Range Plans
- Curriculum and Unit Planning Tips
- Quick Assessment Tips
- How to Organize Student-Led Conferences (Parent-Teacher Interviews)
- Managing the Marking Load in ELA