Week 8: Assessment

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1. See the lecture video minds-on for your first DLP response about measuring student achievement. 

Though we talk about success criteria a lot in terms of our student's learning, that doesn't necessarily give us a sense of what achievement looks like for an individual student. Achievement can look different for every child. Achievement may not even meet the success criteria you as an educator have set out for your class. Maybe for some students achievement is making it to class, perhaps for another it’s overcoming a struggle whether it be academically or socially. There is an individual component to achievement that we can acknowledge to help our students feel represented in our educational environment we are trying to create.

3. Based on your observation days, what instances of AI application/integration have you observed, if any (this can be student or teacher use of AI)? What are your initial thoughts about students using AI in the classroom or teachers using AI for planning purposes? Remember, these are initial thoughts and will likely evolve over time so this does not need to be a researched response! 

My AT has not used any AI yet and I would be surprised if he did. Aside from perhaps using a program that uses AI itself, like Raz-Kids, I am struggling with the idea of AI. I know I am older, and I know that I am slower because I am not as fluent with AI and tech in general, and it is definitely a disadvantage in this program. My issue really is the ethics, or lack thereof and when I see someone get an A+ for doing an entire assignment on AI (start to finish) - not necessarily here, but I’m sure it happens here too, that is frustrating. However, I Like the idea of AI being a meta data wizard, or a super computer that can efficiently scour the depths of the internet for me to give me ideas for a lesson. I do fear that if teachers are so reliant on AI for created content, if anything goes wrong, the chances of pivoting is slim. I am going to come back to this, I a going to try and use one of the many educational AI apps there are and we’ll see if I change my mind!

2. Now that we are nearing the end of Foundations 1 and you've had some exposure to assessment practices, what is one assumption you had about assessment prior to starting the B.Ed. Program that you no longer carry? How has your understanding developed? 

Before starting the B.Ed. Program, I had assumed that assessment was a relatively straightforward part of teaching. Like many parents, I viewed it as a necessary task, with standardized comments that I assumed were due to teachers’ limited time and heavy workloads. However, I now realize that these generic-seeming comments are actually intentional, so I do feel slightly bad for being a little bit judgely on the lack of creativity. As we have learned, Growing Success has specific terms that align with the curriculum and provide clear, measurable feedback for both students and parents, even if it seems like a different language for both. There is certainly a consistency if the language is similar between grades, and I’m sure if I had gone to the “parent” section of the curriculum I could have improved my repertoire. 

My understanding of assessment has evolved significantly, especially within the Growing Success document, which introduces assessment in terms of “assessment of, for, and as learning.” I still need experience with the; assessment of learning = summative, assessment for learning = formative check-ins for more day-to-day instruction, and Assessment as learning = metacognition, encouraging students to become more self-aware, and more thoughtful classroom participants. 

Having a clear framework for recording and tracking student progress has helped me see assessment as an ongoing process integral to every aspect of teaching, not just something I feared at school and University. I now recognize that assessment is a legitimate skill that requires continuous practice and reflection to interpret classroom dynamics effectively and pivot accordingly. With more classroom experience, I hope assessment, and evidence of that assessment becomes second nature.