I use a range of formative assessment strategies
within my classroom across all learning areas.
I often use the random selection tool
to choose students at random for different learning activities
whether it's in response to a question or to reflect on learning.
I find that this creates equal opportunities for students
and it encourages active participation from everybody
so it's not always the one kid that has their hand up all the time.
It just means that everybody is always ready to answer a question when it's asked
or to reflect on something, so I feel like it just encourages inclusion within the classroom
and if a student is unsure of an answer, they're able to ask a friend,
which also fosters collaboration within our learning environment.
So formative assessment is embedded across our school.
We do a lot of professional development in formative assessment
and it's implemented across all grades and all learning areas.
So formative assessment is used to gain information about student understanding
and provide teachers with feedback that informs their practice.
So this information that I get from the students,
whether it's through written feedback or whether it's through verbal feedback,
I'm able to then take that and use it to inform my future teaching practices
and change lessons depending on the student feedback for me.
So it's a not a matter of set lessons anymore,
it's about looking at where students are at
and their engagement, their response to particular tasks and activities
and then redirecting lessons to better support them in where they are at.
So Amaroo has started implementing formative assessment this year
and so through professional development, we've been learning about a range of strategies
so I use information by observations of my students during the class time
and I engage in conversations with my teaching partner
and all of these strategies inform my future planning.
In my classroom, particularly around the area of numeracy,
I use a range of formative assessment strategies.
One of these is my Learning Intentions Wall
so it's displayed in our classroom and at the beginning of the lesson,
my students and I talk about what the learning intentions are,
what we want to learn is going to be,
so it's a great way for myself and my students to articulate the learning
that is going to be happening during that lesson
and so at the end of the lesson once we've completed all of their learning activities,
the students are then able to move their photo depending on where they think they are sitting
according to that learning intention.
For example I can add two numbers together to make 10.
If they feel that they are able to do that independently by themselves,
then they move their photo to the green.
If they need support from myself but they are able to do some by themselves,
then they move to orange.
And if they are still needing support for the whole thing, then they go on to red.
And it's a really great way for myself and other teachers and parents
to be able to see where the students feel that
they are sitting according to that learning intention.
So a big result of my students learning using formative assessment strategies is that
they are now able to reflect on their own learning independently
and they're able to ask for support for me to help them
but my students are now good to use it on a daily basis,
they're very confident and capable of assessing them themselves, by themselves,
and they're very honest about it which I think is great.
Through the use of the formative assessment strategies such as my Learning Intentions Wall
and also mini whiteboards, I'm able to give my students immediate feedback
so I can alter the lesson or the task immediately
so that it's actually meaningful and significant for their abilities and capabilities.
Through the use of traffic lights, so using green amber and red stickers,
they're able to reflect on their achievement in their work
based on the learning intention or the learning goal.
So they put a green sticker on if they feel like they've met the learning intention,
an orange one if they feel like they're still working on it and they need a little bit of support
and a red if they felt like they need a quite a bit of prompting
or they still really need quite a bit of support to make that in the future.
Since implementing a range of formative assessment strategies,
we have seen a huge change in our students' outcomes and also their confidence
and we find the implementation of formative assessment
really useful in numeracy and literacy lessons.
So I've noticed a significant increase in student outcomes
across all learning areas through the use of formative assessment.
I've seen greater student engagement and student participation through these strategies
and I feel like students have a greater understanding of what it is that they're doing
and what it is that they're trying to achieve
and I feel like they have taken on a greater sense of ownership
and purpose for doing those activities.
Kathleen and I work very closely together.
We plan together, program together
and then often teach lessons together
which I find is a really amazing tool for myself as a professional
to be able to work alongside somebody so closely.
Kathleen and I learn lots from one another.
I know that I've gained lots of skills and different learning techniques from her
and being able to also give her some of those opportunities through watching me teach
so we use collaborative coaching as a form of giving each other feedback
to improve our lessons and to then enhance student outcomes.
So as collaborative team teaching is a huge part of Amaroo,
I found it really useful working with my teaching partner
because we've been able to share our strengths and put these strengths together
and so I have gained some new strategies
and some new ideas from my teaching partner and her strengths
and I'm also able to share my strengths with her
so it just improves both of our teaching practices
which will therefore improve our students' learning outcomes.