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Self-Assessments

Self-Assessment of DLP Content and the Peer-Assessment Process

September 27, 2019

Instructions: Now that you have completed the peer-assessment of your colleague’s digital learning portfolio (DLP), consider the questions below. 

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Using the Peer-Assessment Self-Assessment as a guide, what did you find most challenging about providing “effective” feedback to your colleague? Why?

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The student had met the expected criteria including all required content.It was difficult to find things the student needed to improve and so my feedback didn’t feel effective I was unable to offer ways to improve.We did spend time as a group looking at each other’s websites, which offered an opportunity to compare and contrast how different students creatively fulfilled the requirements of the rubric and what extra features some students added.This was a very useful exercise and inspired the students to think about features they could add to the website in the future.

 

What next steps will you personally take to develop your descriptive feedback skills?

 

I think it is important to highlight the positive aspects of an assignment at the same time we critique the content.   When we evaluate, we should ensure we talk about aspects of the assignment and ensure the student can tell we are not critiquing them personally.  We should use specific examples and offer a framework for improvement.  As an elevator we should focus feedback on a small manageable number of aspects for student improvement.  The focus should be on developing a learning mindset where students feel confident in their ability to learn and engage in self-improvement.

 

How has the process of peer- and self- assessment enhanced your understanding of the DLP and/or the descriptive feedback process?

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The assessment process made me as a student ensure my DLP was up to the standard presented in the assignment rubric.  It created a deadline and expectation of completion.  Receiving feedback and reviewing it allowed me to access whether I had met those expectations.  This created an opportunity to reflect on my work and evaluate what I needed to do in the future to improve or maintain my level of achievement.

It was also nice to share DLP website between peers.  Although not a formal assessment, it provided an opportunity to look at the creativity other students had injected into their assignment.  It was an inspiring process and gave me several ideas on how to improve my site in the future.  For example, I’d like to include pictures and perhaps quotes to highlight important thematic elements in the content.

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Resources for offering feedback to students:

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EduGains - Providing Descriptive Feedback

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EduGains - Descriptive Feedback Video Library

After my first practicum:
January 6, 2020

 

After analyzing your practicum reflections, who or what was NOT included or represented and perhaps could or must be included or represented in your writings?  Why do you think the who or what needs to be included or represented?  Why do you think the who or what was not included?

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In my initial practicum I was so focused on my lesson preparation and delivery that I didn’t spend time reflecting on the differing needs of my students in my reflections.  In the future I want to focus more attention on different academic needs of my students.  After some time in the classroom getting to know the students as individuals, I was able to recognize differences in the student’s abilities.  I learned which students needed to be challenged and which needed additional attention.  During assessment it also became clear that I needed to incorporate different strategies to accommodate some students.  In the future I strive to plan my lessons with the differing needs of my students in mind; to be less focused on myself during lesson planning and more focused on the specific needs of my students.

 

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How have you developed since starting this program?

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I think my biggest change has been my increasing comfort level with teaching.  I initially felt overwhelmed with being a student, my responsibilities as a teacher and with learning how to effectively manage a classroom.  After being in a class and getting a chance to implement the ideas we’ve been learning in class I feel a lot more comfortable.  I find myself spending more time thinking about implementing ideas and less about time being nervous and anxious.  

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Your biggest AHA moment so far is ………because......

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My biggest AHA moment so far has been interacting with students because I didn’t fully realize how fun and rewarding it would be.  My practicum teaching was busy and chaotic, but very rewarding because of those interactions.  It re-affirmed why I want to be here in the Faculty of Education.

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A burning question/questions you currently have is/are….

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How can I get better?   I think I have a good appreciation of my strengths and weaknesses after spending some time in a classroom and I want to find ways to get better.  There are lots of things I can improve upon and I’m going to my classes with a new focus improving.

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January 13, 2020

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Self-Assessment:  Policy Practice and Research Connection

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     This is an in class assessment activity of my knowledge of and ability to find resources associated with practices of teacher policy and research.  In is an example of assessment as and for learning.  Filling out the sheet above has reminded me of the importance of policy and research as a teaching professional, which is an example of assessment for learning.  Completing a self-evaluation before and after class is an example of assessment as learning.  I am able to self-assess my learning making it easier to determine which areas I need to continue to work study. 

 

     I am familiar with all of the documents listed and know where to find them, but before class I didn't have confidence that my working knowledge of the documents was sufficient to properly implement all of the ideas into my teaching.  The Ministry of Education policy documents have come up in several classes and I'm growing more confident with several of the Ontario curriculum documents associated with my teachables.  I need to continue to explore the mandated and policy documents provided by the Ministry as I continue to develop my lessons and teaching philosophies.

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     I am very familiar with finding research articles in the medical field, but I'm still learning the best way to access education research. Several prominent researchers have come up a few times and I am beginning to recognize a few prominent names.  Carol Dweck and Ken Robinson are prominent advocates for changing the way we teach students.  Paul Black's name has come up as a prominent assessment researcher.  I think Marian Small when I think about creating questions for understanding, especially in math.  Finally, there is Marzano and his highly effective strategies for teaching.  I need to continue to become familiar with cognitive and educational research and gain experience finding research articles on topics related to my classwork and teaching.  I also need to think about my teaching style and philosophy and think about ways I might incorporate research based methods and philosophies to make it better.

October 26, 2020 Assessing my Assessment knowledge. 

This information comes mostly from Growing Success and Learning for All Ministry Documents.

November 9, 2020 Self Assessment of Long Range Plan Group Assignment

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Consider your group's contributions to the group assignment.  How did you personally contribute to the group learning?

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I contributed to group learning by taking and completing a fair share of the work.  I asked questions when a task was unclear and attempted to answer the questions of others.  I reflected upon my contributions and the contributions of others to offer constructive feedback and help develop a clear and unified document.  I sought out guidance from the course instructor and worked with my group members to implement changes to improve the project.

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How did you work with situations where you or others appeared to not have contributed to the learning experience as per the original group contract?

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There were no situations where other group members did not contribute.  If a situation has arisen, I would have brought my concerns up with the group in a constructive manner.  We could have re-assigned work load or priorities, offered assistance or reinforced the group expectations. 

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How might you use your experiences in this group activity to grow as a professional in your future collaborative endeavours as an educator?

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When working in a group it is important to have trust that your workmates will complete their work in a timely manner to the desired standard.  Defining the roles and responsibilities of each group member was an important way to explicitly define what we all needed to accomplish.  Explicit duties and a schedule for progress helped ensure accountability within the group.  It is important to check in regularly, especially in the beginning when tasks are being initially defined.  It was beneficial to get work done early so there was ample time to integrate different parts.  Offering and responding to constructive criticism was also important.   All of these points will be applicable to any future collaboration I participate in as an educator.

 

 

Based on your experience, how might you approach "group work" or cooperative learning opportunities with your own future students? 

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There was a lot of group scaffolding provided for this assignment that help our group complete our work. 

  1. There was a detailed rubric for the assignment detailing specific expectations

  2. There were templates provided for how to organize our work

  3. Exemplars were shown allowing us to see examples of what a completed assignment might look

  4. There was a contract provided to help define group member roles and work expectations

  5. There was class time provided for students to complete work and seek clarification on the assignment

  6. The instructors checked in with us and provided constructive formative feedback to help us improve the project.

  7. There were reminds in class about when the assignment was due

  8. There were recommended resources provided to groups to help their work

  9. We had previously been given input on providing effective constructive feedback

  10. We had experience setting individual goals and working toward accomplishing them

  11. We had experience working collaboratively with our peers

All of these events could be used in class to support group work collaborative learning opportunities.  Classroom collaboration starts with teacher scaffolding and modeling behaviours and a gradual release of responsibilities to students as they develop the skills required to work effectively in groups.

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