Kristina Tzetzos taught our EDUC-431 class about helping students to understand assessment for their learning. I think this like so many things is not addressed enough in class to students. We as educators need to remember that often students need to be instructed on things like assessment in terms of purpose and goals. Kristina uses an app called Spinndle for student assessment. The assessment provided on Spinndle provides a range of assessment including academics, monitoring behaviour, reflecting, tracking progress, and collecting artifacts.
Student portfolios need to mean something to students before they engage in it. Teachers need to ensure that before introducing portfolios for assessment to students, that they understand the intentions behind them. Teachers often assume that students know how to assess, that they know how the assessment is related to standards, and that they understand how artifacts display growth. This seems absurd that educators would assume this when most educators don’t even have a strong handle on assessment. Educators need to teach students how to self-assess through modelling and instruction, much like we would with any other subject matter’s content.
Kristina’s presentation was interesting because it related to a lot more than assessment in my education journey. I am noticing that many times small details are skipped over and assumed that everyone knows them already. This can be thought of like coding. You need exact instructions and all of the information to carry out a code correctly. The same goes for learning–all of the puzzle pieces need to be in place before the learning can be effective.
Carlo Bellisomo
November 7, 2019 — 12:19 am
This is a very quick simple explanation of Kristina’s presentation but really encompasses fully the importance and validity of her discussions about assessment. It is so important for teachers to understand the aspects of assessment before they can start assuming their students understand what it is. Nice summary!
jesserickson
November 18, 2019 — 11:34 pm
Knowing where the students are at in terms of their understanding is so important. Perhaps some sort of informal check-in with the students would be helpful before actually creating the portfolios. The fact that you see this need for understanding will make portfolios so much more meaningful for you students!