Week 5 Blog Post: Understanding Formative Assessments
Week 5 Blog Post: Understanding Formative Assessments
As a student growing up, I without a doubt participated in formative assessments from my teachers, but was not aware that's what they were called. I probably didn't always realize I was even participating in one, or how it was being used.
As an adult and as a prospective teacher, my first thought to understanding formative assessments and their benefit, is what a TIME saver! By kicking off a lesson with a formative assessment, a teacher can really get a good grasp on what students already understand and where they may need a more thorough lesson to start off. These assessments are a great way to allow a class to move more quickly through material, rather than spending an entire class period going over material the students already know.
As I've mentioned before, I currently work in corporate America in a full time job within the consumer product goods industry. But on the side, I am also an independent contractor for a small private firm, which helps to provide individuals with disabilities post high school graduation with job placement, on the job accommodations, vocational evaluations, and even helping to find further education for those interested. Where I specifically help is through resume and cover letter writing. I assist individuals who may have never written a resume before, to those that are very experienced in writing resumes, make their resume the best it can be. The end goal is to provide them with all of the tools they need to set them up for success in their own career search and land a job.
In thinking about this role, I actually provide some sort of assessment, though I suppose I never put a word to it. Though it's not in the form of a test per-say, I ask a lot of questions about their experience and usually ask to see an example of their resume if they have one. From there, I can determine if I need to start from the very beginning, ie. "What is a resume?" or "How can we make this even better?"
By providing an assessment, I can help save my own time but more importantly, time of my client who is paying for hours of service. With this, they are not paying for time to learn things they already know.
What I especially like about formative assessments, is they also allow students to provide feedback to the teachers, and students to other students. Thinking outside the classroom as well in my current world, I can see how this would also be applicable to my own job, and help improve my services that I am providing to my clients.
As a student growing up, I without a doubt participated in formative assessments from my teachers, but was not aware that's what they were called. I probably didn't always realize I was even participating in one, or how it was being used.
As an adult and as a prospective teacher, my first thought to understanding formative assessments and their benefit, is what a TIME saver! By kicking off a lesson with a formative assessment, a teacher can really get a good grasp on what students already understand and where they may need a more thorough lesson to start off. These assessments are a great way to allow a class to move more quickly through material, rather than spending an entire class period going over material the students already know.
As I've mentioned before, I currently work in corporate America in a full time job within the consumer product goods industry. But on the side, I am also an independent contractor for a small private firm, which helps to provide individuals with disabilities post high school graduation with job placement, on the job accommodations, vocational evaluations, and even helping to find further education for those interested. Where I specifically help is through resume and cover letter writing. I assist individuals who may have never written a resume before, to those that are very experienced in writing resumes, make their resume the best it can be. The end goal is to provide them with all of the tools they need to set them up for success in their own career search and land a job.
In thinking about this role, I actually provide some sort of assessment, though I suppose I never put a word to it. Though it's not in the form of a test per-say, I ask a lot of questions about their experience and usually ask to see an example of their resume if they have one. From there, I can determine if I need to start from the very beginning, ie. "What is a resume?" or "How can we make this even better?"
By providing an assessment, I can help save my own time but more importantly, time of my client who is paying for hours of service. With this, they are not paying for time to learn things they already know.
What I especially like about formative assessments, is they also allow students to provide feedback to the teachers, and students to other students. Thinking outside the classroom as well in my current world, I can see how this would also be applicable to my own job, and help improve my services that I am providing to my clients.
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