Sunday, 25 November 2007
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Learning Logs for Writing
A working group of teachers from our different primary schools have created Learning Logs for Writing from Level A to Level E. This is to help pupils to understand better how they are doing and how they can improve.
Monday, 5 November 2007
Mark Less to Raise Attainment
“Feedback to any pupil should be about the particular qualities of his or her work, with advice on what he or she can do to improve, and should avoid comparisons with other pupils” – © P.Black & D.Wiliam “Inside the Black Box” 2001
Assessment for learning is all about using assessment and feedback to get the pupils involved in their own learning and improve it according to their own ability. Teachers and pupils alike, however, enjoy the use of grading and scores to know exactly where a person is in the scale of the whole class. As much as scoring has its benefits for recording and analysing results, it does not give each child specific feedback as to how they could improve. What is one good way of combating this?
As every pupil is different, they require different feedback as to how they can improve. Advocates of the “Assessment is for Learning” programme encourage the use of “comment-only marking” to tackle this issue. Instead of telling young Joe Bloggs that he has only got 5 out of 27 for his homework compared to the high scores of his friends, why not write something like,
“Well done for the effort you made in trying every question. To improve on this piece of work, try writing down more working so that it is easier for you to notice if you make an accidental mistake. Well done for your neat writing and clear layout.”
Doing this avoids the situation where every pupil compares their grades – leading to discouragement for those not doing as well as their friends. On the contrary, it means every pupil can be told something positive to boost their self esteem and they can be given specific advice on how to improve their work at their own level.
By grading less and giving more encouraging and motivating feedback, teachers can give their students a good chance of making real improvement in the most appropriate and beneficial way.
Assessment for learning is all about using assessment and feedback to get the pupils involved in their own learning and improve it according to their own ability. Teachers and pupils alike, however, enjoy the use of grading and scores to know exactly where a person is in the scale of the whole class. As much as scoring has its benefits for recording and analysing results, it does not give each child specific feedback as to how they could improve. What is one good way of combating this?
As every pupil is different, they require different feedback as to how they can improve. Advocates of the “Assessment is for Learning” programme encourage the use of “comment-only marking” to tackle this issue. Instead of telling young Joe Bloggs that he has only got 5 out of 27 for his homework compared to the high scores of his friends, why not write something like,
“Well done for the effort you made in trying every question. To improve on this piece of work, try writing down more working so that it is easier for you to notice if you make an accidental mistake. Well done for your neat writing and clear layout.”
Doing this avoids the situation where every pupil compares their grades – leading to discouragement for those not doing as well as their friends. On the contrary, it means every pupil can be told something positive to boost their self esteem and they can be given specific advice on how to improve their work at their own level.
By grading less and giving more encouraging and motivating feedback, teachers can give their students a good chance of making real improvement in the most appropriate and beneficial way.
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
Self and Peer Assessment
Self and Peer Assessment involves students taking responsibility for monitoring and making judgements about aspects of their own or peer’s learning. Students can develop lifelong evaluation skills both about their own work and thinking as well as others.
The cluster has created two posters to facilitate the use of Self and Peer Assessment in the classroom. After an exercise, pupils may be asked to refer to these posters to reflect on their work or on the work of their peers. It allows them to develop learning strategies based on their evaluations.
Here are a few examples of pupils’ responses using the posters:
Spanish – After a Speaking exercise
• I am pleased with this work because:
– I managed to speak quite smoothly without many pronunciation errors.
• Two improvements I made are:
– I understand more of the language.
– I pronounce the words better than I did at the beginning.
• Next time I need to focus on:
– pronouncing the endings of the words more and speak with less of a French accent!
Spanish – After a speaking exercise
• You have met the criteria here by speaking clearly.
• This is your best because you were going at a good pace.
• You could improve further by saying hello and goodbye.
The cluster has created two posters to facilitate the use of Self and Peer Assessment in the classroom. After an exercise, pupils may be asked to refer to these posters to reflect on their work or on the work of their peers. It allows them to develop learning strategies based on their evaluations.
Here are a few examples of pupils’ responses using the posters:
Spanish – After a Speaking exercise
• I am pleased with this work because:
– I managed to speak quite smoothly without many pronunciation errors.
• Two improvements I made are:
– I understand more of the language.
– I pronounce the words better than I did at the beginning.
• Next time I need to focus on:
– pronouncing the endings of the words more and speak with less of a French accent!
Spanish – After a speaking exercise
• You have met the criteria here by speaking clearly.
• This is your best because you were going at a good pace.
• You could improve further by saying hello and goodbye.
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
Traffic lights
Traffic lights are used in many different areas of the curriculum and can be used by students at all levels to help them to assess where they are in their learning and identify what needs to be addressed for them to move forward with a particular learning outcome or in a block of study.
The posters above are examples of traffic lights displayed on classroom walls, to prompt pupils to reflect on how well they have understood a lesson or completed a piece of work. A green light means they have fully understood an instruction or a learning outcome. An amber light means that they are getting there, but still are unsure and may need support. A red light means that they have not yet understood and will need more teaching in this particular area.
Traffic lights are used in a variety of formats to assist students to reflect on their learning, as well as to help in opening communication channels between individuals and class teachers. It can be confidential and does not draw unnecessary attention to the fact that an individual has difficulty. Posters may be on the wall and pupils can use the statements in order to colour in a traffic light shape on their page. Traffic lights sheets may be given to a whole class or to an individual in order to help them reflect on several learning outcomes at the one time. Traffic light prisms can be easily constructed with laminated paper and pupils can turn prism to show the teacher whether or not they need help during a lesson.
Traffic lights can be used at different stages of learning:-
· They can be used after initial instructions have been given, before progressing to a practical task.
· They can be used towards the end of a block of study to help students focus on learning outcomes before sitting an end of unit assessment.
· They can be used during a lesson to unobtrusively alert the teacher to individuals or groups who would benefit from assistance.
· They can be used over a whole school session to demonstrate progress with a group of students, some of whom may have started the session at red or amber and by the end of the year have moved on to a green light for that block of study.
Next steps
The important stage when using traffic lights is to consider what the next steps are to be.
If every student shows a green light in every area then the teacher will be happy to move on to the next stage in learning, or to present the class for a written assessment.
If a large number of students are showing amber on a learning outcome then perhaps the topic needs more input, or a new approach to teaching this topic should be considered.
If a small group are red or amber, this group can be targeted for further teaching. If a large number of pupils are showing red on a learning outcome this could be an indication to the teacher that either the topic was not covered sufficiently or there are serious misunderstandings about the success criteria.
Analysis of students’ traffic lights sheets can assist the students in identifying their next steps and their targets for the future. It can also be reassuring and confidence boosting when they can track their own progress. The teacher can also analyse the traffic lights results to decide on next steps for the whole class, certain groups, or individuals. This process can also facilitate the teacher’s own reflection on the success of the teaching methods used.
Traffic Lights can be fun to use !
Traffic Lights can be easy to implement!
Traffic Lights facilitate planning of next steps and future targets !
Are you ready? Get set! Go!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
