I am rather a man of action so in my portfolio I decided to focus on practical actions that I took. This section includes 3 different aspects of assessment - assessment of pupils, peer assessment of college teachers and self-assessment of myself as a teacher based on reflection.
One of the most intensive courses this year was definitely Assessment taught by dr Britton. We were expected to put a lot of effort to pass it, but on the other hand we’ve learned so much! We’ve discovered what is formative and summative assessment. It gave me a totally new and fresh view on assessment.
One of the most intensive courses this year was definitely Assessment taught by dr Britton. We were expected to put a lot of effort to pass it, but on the other hand we’ve learned so much! We’ve discovered what is formative and summative assessment. It gave me a totally new and fresh view on assessment.
I understood, that assessment is not about grading and passing,
but about giving constructive feedback to learners
and helping them understand how they grow.
but about giving constructive feedback to learners
and helping them understand how they grow.
ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING
The new knowledge I gained made me think how is assessment organised in my language school. My observations weren’t to optimistic…
This is a chart, which teachers “ticked” about each student twice a year. The results were sent to parents via e-mail.
While improving it I settled myself two goals – to make teacher’s work easier (because why not?) and to convey some valid message to parents through this form. What I wanted to include for them:
During so early stage of FL education the main focus is to create positive view of language and build motivation for future learning. It was in my mind while creating my assessment form. To achieve it, I decided to convey only positive information about pupil. I wanted to avoid assessing general attitude towards learning to not hurt any child, who may be ambitious and smart, but still is in process of adaptation to preschool system.
I realised that a form of chart is tricky – after all it’s obvious for parents, that teacher didn’t spend to much time on preparing it so they may feel a little bit disappointed. Instead I've decided to create an interactive letter. It is connected with a dedicated survey for teachers and automatically creates personalised file for each student. I consulted my ideas with dr Britton before preparing a final version. I attach it bellow.
- we take care of their child and treat him/her individually
- show process, progress and success of learning EFL
- motivation and tips for future development
- Ensuring that what they do for their kids is good and important
- Pass information about our school
- Encourage parents to like our FB profile
During so early stage of FL education the main focus is to create positive view of language and build motivation for future learning. It was in my mind while creating my assessment form. To achieve it, I decided to convey only positive information about pupil. I wanted to avoid assessing general attitude towards learning to not hurt any child, who may be ambitious and smart, but still is in process of adaptation to preschool system.
I realised that a form of chart is tricky – after all it’s obvious for parents, that teacher didn’t spend to much time on preparing it so they may feel a little bit disappointed. Instead I've decided to create an interactive letter. It is connected with a dedicated survey for teachers and automatically creates personalised file for each student. I consulted my ideas with dr Britton before preparing a final version. I attach it bellow.
Cieszymy się, że Państwa dziecko, <<Imię dziecka>> <<Nazwisko dziecka>>, uczestniczyło w naszych zajęciach w tym roku szkolnym!
Speak ART to szkoła językowa dedykowana najmłodszym, wiemy więc doskonale jak ważne jest rozbudzanie zainteresowania językiem obcym na tak wczesnym etapie. Nauka z nami zawsze przebiega w przyjaznej atmosferze i dopasowana jest do potrzeb naszych małych uczniów – zajęcia są atrakcyjne, mają formę wspólnej zabawy w języku angielskim z akcentem na elementy ruchowe i muzyczne.
W tym roku <<Nazwa grupy>> na zajęciach z angielskiego ze speak ART zapoznały się ze słownictwem związanym z tematami takimi jak:
pogoda, zwierzęta, jedzenie (w tym owoce i warzywa), części ciała i ubrania, instrumenty muzyczne, emocje, rodzina, wakacje i podróże.
<<Imię dziecka>> umie:
<<Dziecko umie/radzi sobie z…>>.
Tematy, które <<Imię dziecka>> może jeszcze powtórzyć to <<Dziecko musi jeszcze popracować nad…>>.
<<Imię dziecka>>, gratulujemy! Świetnie Ci idzie!
Aby pomóc Państwa dziecku w dalszej nauce zachęcamy do jak najczęstszego wplatania elementów języka angielskiego do wspólnej zabawy z dzieckiem w domu! Mogą Państwo używać angielskich słówek do opisywania codziennych czynności, sprawdzić, czy ulubione gry i zabawy dziecka będą równie ekscytujące po angielsku lub odnaleźć na YouTube piosenki śpiewane podczas naszych zajęć.
Na naszym fanpage’u na Facebooku znajdą Państwo materiały uzupełniające aktualnie realizowany przez nas program oraz zdjęcia i anegdotki z bieżących zajęć. Zapraszamy!
Dziękujemy za udany wspólny rok!
New version of progress report was acceptable and, in my opinion, better than the first one. Still it wasn't exactly what I wanted!
Following year, I came back to my very first idea of showing parents skills, that their child has actually obtained and celebrating successes on individual scale. A priority for me was also accessible and user friendly design for teachers. It works in a form of a survey, as on the photo attached below.
Following year, I came back to my very first idea of showing parents skills, that their child has actually obtained and celebrating successes on individual scale. A priority for me was also accessible and user friendly design for teachers. It works in a form of a survey, as on the photo attached below.
In overall formative assessment is in my opinion one of the crucial factors of successful education. I include elements of it as often as I can. It's a MUST for the beginning and end of semester, that's for sure!
I also include this topic in many of my talks to show how making students aware and responsible for reaching goals empower them. I always try to make my students aware of their successes and skills.
Below I am presenting some of my articles written for Get Creative! magazine touching the topic of formative assessment and self-assessment of YLs.
PEER ASSESSMENT
As an owner of language school I have plenty of opportunities to give feedback to my teachers – after observing their classes, reading submitted lesson plans etc. Thanks to my prior psychological knowledge I know general rules how to give feedback, but my new point of view for assessment helped me to do it even better.
Now I always list first few best aspects of given piece of work, something that the author did really good and should be proud of. Later I give “point for future development”. These are not listed mistakes, but rather inspirations and resources where to look for additional information. I believe this form of feedback is formative for my peers.
As an owner of language school I have plenty of opportunities to give feedback to my teachers – after observing their classes, reading submitted lesson plans etc. Thanks to my prior psychological knowledge I know general rules how to give feedback, but my new point of view for assessment helped me to do it even better.
Now I always list first few best aspects of given piece of work, something that the author did really good and should be proud of. Later I give “point for future development”. These are not listed mistakes, but rather inspirations and resources where to look for additional information. I believe this form of feedback is formative for my peers.
In a new school year I came up with the idea of preparing feedback after observed lessons in a form of a mind map. This gives me a chance to organise my thoughts and show connections between different areas. I am still developing this method, but I like the direction it leads me to.
SELF ASSESSMENT
I also try to assess my own progress as a teacher. I was first introduced to this concept and its benefits during my CELTA training. Last assignments were dedicated to self-reflections and path of development as a teacher. We had to not only list our 3 strengths and weakness, but also give examples of particular events which led us to this observations. Later on we had to write down ideas how to improve on these fields short therm (during CELTA) and long term (after CELTA).
This task helped me to objective assess my position as a teacher and see paths for future development. During my GPTE program I absolutely enjoyed all subjects connected with self-reflection and professional development.
I also try to assess my own progress as a teacher. I was first introduced to this concept and its benefits during my CELTA training. Last assignments were dedicated to self-reflections and path of development as a teacher. We had to not only list our 3 strengths and weakness, but also give examples of particular events which led us to this observations. Later on we had to write down ideas how to improve on these fields short therm (during CELTA) and long term (after CELTA).
This task helped me to objective assess my position as a teacher and see paths for future development. During my GPTE program I absolutely enjoyed all subjects connected with self-reflection and professional development.