Miss Younger's Math Musings
Like many teachers I think I have several miss understandings when discussing large scale assessments (LSAs), we are given minimal training on them and how they are developed unless we seek the knowledge ourselves and are also given very minimal training on how to administer them and interpret the results. If we are even given…
“The most traditional purpose of assessment involves teachers gathering evidence to draw inferences about students’ learning to establish grades and prepare reports,” (Earl, 2010) this sentence resonated with me instantly, our assessment is an inference. If we look at how we teach inferencing in reading we teach students that what they read combined with their…
The SNAP Math assessment created by the Chilliwack school district provides a framework for assessing discrete math concepts and includes a one-page number sense assessment for each grade level with an accompanying overarching rubric for assessing in k-7. The rubric provides a good framework that is tied to the BC provincial performance standards in math…
“WE ARE SURROUNDED by numbers. Etched on credit cards or engraved on coins, printed on pay checks or aligned on computerized spread sheets, numbers rule our lives. Indeed, they lie at the heart of our technology. Without numbers, we could not send rockets roaming the solar system, nor could we build bridges, exchange goods, or…
My Position Large scale assessment should not be used for the ranking of schools. Contrary Position Large scale assessments are a good tool for ranking schools. “Parents use the rankings as one source of objective evidence of school performance when choosing a school for their children,” (Cowley, 2016) families need the full picture of the school…
My grade group partner and I collaborate on classroom assessments, using common rubrics for writing, reading responses, and math problem solving in our grade 4classes. This helps us pinpoint student strengths and weaknesses and instructional areas needing improvement. Developing these rubrics aligned with provincial performance standards took us five years, ensuring they are student and…
What are the explicit purposes for classroom assessment in your context? Looking at my own classroom practice my assessment has two explicit purposes, the first being formative to be used as a guide for learning and the second being summative. I primarily use a project-based learning approach with my students working from highly structured inquiries…
“The test of truth in life is not whether we can remember what we learned in school, but whether we are prepared for change,” (Schleicher, 2012) education systems need to change constantly to keep up with the evolution of our global society. In his 2012 TED Talk Schleicher advocates the use of data on local, national and international…
My students complete a total of five to six reading assessments per year, these are administered by myself as their classroom teacher. In September we use the DART test in conjunction with the previous year’s reading levels to determine which students need running record using the Fontas and Pinnell assessment kit within the first few…
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With how quickly AI technology popped up last school year we as teachers need to be prepared to adapt to the new tool. ChatGPT and other generative AI tools can be valuable tools in our classrooms. As my school’s technology learning ambassador, I attended a session last spring discussing the role of ChatGPT and how…