Classroom Assessment

Types of Assessment 

Diagnostic – administered at beginning of the school year, term, start of course or unit (pre and post tests) to determine what students already know about a particular topic

Formative – ongoing processes that provide information about how students are progressing towards a learning goal

Summative – given at the end of a unit, course or year to assess student’s level of competency in a subject

7 Steps in Using Formative Assessment in the Classroom

Students need to know where they are going in their learning, where they are now and how to reduce the gap between where they are and their learning goal

Step 1 – Provide students with clear understandable learning targets

Step 2 – Provide exemplars of leveled student work

Step 3 – Provide regular descriptive feedback

Step 4 – Teach students how to self-assess and set goals

Step 5 - Focusing on One Learning Target

Step 6 – Design and deliver lessons focussed on learning goals

Step 7 – Provide opportunities for self-reflection allowing students to track and share their learning

OMG I made it to the end of the School Year!

After a break away from the classroom following a death in the family, I returned to the classroom for the wind down of the school year.


There are those who think that teachers have it easy, teaching six hours a day, weekends off, a couple of breaks at Christmas and Easter have never lived through the last six weeks of a school year.  

Teaching curriculum right up to the week before final exams - don't get me wrong that is my job and I love it - to students who have already begun to focus on summer vacation 6 weeks before the end of the year.



The month of June is one deadline following another.  Individualized Learning Plans, Report Card Assessments,and comments, Personal Development, Character, Citizenship indicators, Learning Outcome stems all have non-negotiable deadlines.  

Report card comments - are supposed to be prescriptive and descriptive so that they are of course about the individual student showing their strengths and next steps for improving their learning all based on the curriculum and referencing their citizenship, character and personal development in learning.  




So after all the marking has been done, marks are entered in the to grade book program the writing starts.  Six classes of students with an average of 32 students a class for a total of 192 comments to write.  

Every June we celebrate student achievement!  Athletic Awards celebration, the Grade 9 Farewell Ceremony & Dance and the Academic Awards evening.  Three very late evenings following full days of teaching

Committee work - those celebrations do not happen magically.  Many staff put in many hours before school, at lunch and after school planning, organizing and preparing for the celebrations and then cleaning up after only to be back at school at 7 am the next day.

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213.75 hours or 53.4 hours per week.  That's roughly 70 hours of overtime hours based on an average work week of 35 hours per week.  I did not even factor in supervision, exam tutorials and helping students at lunch or before school.  Probably another 10 hours at least.

No wonder I am so very tired at the end of the year.

Now it's time to start planning for next year :)