THE RANT: Here is my second recent post on the current buzz phrase and practice (and a previous post): "Using Affective Formative Assessments in Your Classrooms".
If you have read my last post, or myriad of others being pumped out from every academia loving nook and cranny stalwart-teacher around the globe, you will know that FAs are tools used to measure the progress of students in their daily turgid endeavours to build a so-called future for themselves. This post is not meant to offend those who disbelieve this "new fangled approach" to assessment is the only way to go, but only to show some real life examples of how, if you try this method of teacher-student trust and assessment with transparent walls, you can have genuine outcomes that make students feel like they have done something for themselves that is worthwhile.
If you have read my last post, or myriad of others being pumped out from every academia loving nook and cranny stalwart-teacher around the globe, you will know that FAs are tools used to measure the progress of students in their daily turgid endeavours to build a so-called future for themselves. This post is not meant to offend those who disbelieve this "new fangled approach" to assessment is the only way to go, but only to show some real life examples of how, if you try this method of teacher-student trust and assessment with transparent walls, you can have genuine outcomes that make students feel like they have done something for themselves that is worthwhile.
THE BACKGROUND: Now that we are at the end of the semester and in the final week. Apart from going along to the school sports fest we felt it better to also continue with our lessons; even though the students do whinge at the prospect. However, once they get started they do start to realise it isn't a bad idea compared to watching little 'uns running around in frenetic swarms following a basketball or football. We came up with an activity that simply kills many birds with one stone, or if I use an educational idiom: teaches and engages all the class with one interesting activity.
STAGE ONE
Download the songs from my Google-Drive Cloud
CD 1
CD 2
CD 3
CD 1
CD 2
CD 3
These files can now be shared with your students, so that they can get on with choosing the song they like and the song they don't like. The whole lesson has also been turned into a BLENDSPACE tutorial, which explains it very clearly
Now that you have the background materials, Blendspace tutorial and activity ready to go, fire on and have your engaged lesson...
A student, Talya, shows her finished product in this video
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT & ST-FEEDBACK
In our classes we assess the students 51 formative times in each semester. For some FAs we give grades and for others feedback both verbally and in written or video form. We also have peer-to-peer feedback, and this really makes the students feel happy that they get to be part of their friend's Performance Grade assessment. One other highly successful FA are Can Do statemenst and interviews based on the CEFr. Again students welcome this assessment because they really do get to be part of their own learning outcomes, personal reflection and the opportunity to discuss face to face with their teachers what it is that they have to do to keep growing.
You note that we DO GRADE FORMATIVELY as we believe students need to have a gauge on where they are at any given time. Transparency, continuous reflection and joint-understanding of what each student ahs to do makes for a much more positive atmosphere and environment.
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