Formative assessment is a type of assessment that is new in the classrooms. Many teachers are moving towards more formative assessment and trying to steer clear of the summative assessment. Formative assessment is part of the instructional process. Teachers assess while they are teaching. It is different from just handing out a quiz or test when a lesson is completed (which is summative assessment.) Due to formative assessment, teachers are able to more adequately adjust lessons and their teachings based on the students true needs. Students also get the opportunity to understand and assess themselves, as well as each other. This type of assessment allows students to peer assess and really help each other if some students might be lost. One of the biggest differences between formative and summative assessment is that formative assessment happens anytime after you remediate. It can happen at any time, at any point of a lesson. Summative assessment normally happens at the end. The EOG and EOC's are examples of summative assessment.
Formative assessment is very beneficial for the students and the teachers. I would absolutely use formative assessment in my classroom. After completing the self-reflection I have realized what some of my strengths and weaknesses are, as well as what I would like to improve upon regarding formative assessment. Going through the questions, I realized my biggest strengths is that I am able to share criteria for success with students effectively. I am able to explain to students what they have to do in order to do well. I am also strong at giving back descriptive feedback to students. I want students to succeed, and in order to do that they need to know how they can improve on their work, as well as what they did really well. My last strength is that I am able to teach students to ask questions about their work. It is crucial for students to be able to ask the proper questions in order to improve their work. I want students to feel comfortable asking questions, as well as asking the right questions. There are also some areas I would like to improve upon. One of my goals for formative assessment is to learn more of a variety of ways to self assess. I do not want to be repetitive, so therefore I need to learn about different ways to self assess. Another goal is to continually use formative assessment to gauge student learning. I do not want to just use formative assessment every once in a while. I want to use it very often so I, as well as my students, become accustomed to it. Just like I did, I would want my students set goals that they would like to meet by a certain time, and have them explain how they plan on meeting those goals. It is so important for the students and the teacher to set goals for themselves. There are numerous amounts of ways to integrate formative assessment into ones classroom. It takes time and real thought to make sure one is completing it properly. I look forward to learning about all the different ways to assess my students.
