Embedded Formative Assessment: What I've Learned
Embedded Formative Assessment by Dylan William has a number of great resources and ideas for any teachers- from new to veteran- that can easily come into play in their classroom. William is focused on how to improve the classroom for our students, and how to make teachers more effective through different forms of formative assessment.
Chapter 1 discusses the importance of academic achievement, and some of the factors that come into play for student achievement. Many schools are underfunded, which can lead to a lack of resources for students. However, one of the most important resources that every school has is teachers. William proposes that firing or re-locating ineffective teachers is not the solution: rather, we should be assisting our current teachers and teaching them on how to be better educators. His major solution? Embedded formative assessment!
To follow this, Chapter 2 discusses the definition of embedded formative assessment, and why it is so beneficial to our students and classrooms. Many teachers have grown used to implementing what is called summative assessments— meaning, they are at the end of a unit or learning event to summarize and show the learning which occurred throughout the unit in one final product. Now, there is a lot of research to prove that summative assessments (on their own!) are not very effective. Students often memorize information to pass the test, or barely pass the test because they got lost somewhere along the way. William suggests that formative assessments— assessments without a large grade attached to them which are designed to gather data on where the student is currently, and any misunderstandings they might be having— are infinitely more beneficial in the classroom. Being able to see where students are at in your lesson, and being able to adjust their course or encourage their current direction, are essential to genuine learning rather than memorization. The following chapters discuss a number of ways in which you can incorporate these types of assessments.
Chapter 3, called "Clarifying, Sharing, and Understanding Learning Intentions and Success Criteria", is all about attacking the way in which we have been teaching lessons regarding learning objectives and rubrics. Learning objectives and rubrics, especially, need to have direct purpose that is communicated to the students. Telling students the learning object without explaining why it is a learning objective has significantly less value than guiding students through a learning objective and putting them in the driver's seat. From this chapter, my two personal favorite applicable techniques within the classroom would be "What Not to Write"— where students discuss what wouldn't work for an assignment and why— as well as "Test Item Design"— where students design their own questions for the test. I am using a similar technique to "What Not to Write" in my first learning lesson event, where we discuss 'not quite good' interview questions, and discuss why they aren't effective and how they can be improved.
Chapter 4, called "Eliciting Evidence of Learning", is all about different methods to get all students involved, as well as how to ask questions that will really show you where a student's thinking is at.
Chapter 5, called "Providing Feedback That Moves Learning Forward" is all about how to make effective feedback that encourages students to engage in and advance in their learning, rather than giving a student a static grade that they have no control over. Giving encouraging and constructive criticism to students that allows them to learn while feeling fully supported is essential for a thriving classroom. The less we focus on the grade, and the more we focus on the actual learning, the better off our student's will be!
Chapter 6, called "Activating Learners as Instructional Resources for One Another" was one of my favorite chapters, as it discussed the value of peers and social interaction within the classroom. The value of socializing with peers, creating friendships within the classroom, and learning to help those around you as well as feel confident enough to ask others for help are incredibly valuable skills in life, and will be one of the most beneficial lessons students will learn while in school. My two favorite techniques would be "C3B4ME"— a strategy which encourages a student to ask three other peers a question before bringing it to the teacher— and "Two Stars One Wish"— which allows peers to compliment two things when giving a peer feedback, as well as give them some constructive criticism. I will certainly be using these strategies in my classroom, as they encourage student independence, interdependence, as well as the skill to look at someone else's work and to engage in a conversation on what about that work is well done and what needs improvement.
Chapter 7, called "Activating Learners as Owners of Their Own Learning", is about encouraging and allowing students to advocate for themselves in the classroom, and to take advantage of their own learning. The most important step in this process is allowing students to be aware of what they are learning— IE, don't tell a student to do something without first being clear about what you are hoping they will learn. If students are aware of where they are headed, and what they are supposed to be learning, they can take more ownership of what they are taking in during class. My favorite techniques from this chapter are "Learning Logs" as well as "Traffic Lights". I love the idea of learning logs, because reflecting over a class period is always helpful for our brains in reiterating what we just learned. It's also a relaxing way to wind down a class period. Traffic lights exist in a number of different ways— such as asking students to put the amount of fingers up that correspond to their understand of what they are learning (one finger if you really don't understand what's going on, five fingers if you are confident). Students having a nonverbal way in which they can let the teacher know how they are doing is an excellent tool for a teacher to use, and I'm sure it will find its way into my classroom.
My main criteria for any teacher resource is simply this: does it offer tangible solutions and ideas? I full heartedly agreed with this book and the different subjects it amplified, as these are all things I want to make intentional in my future classroom. What made this book a valuable resource for me is the techniques it offered, and the solutions it proposed throughout each chapter. I would recommend this book to any teacher, young or old, who is looking for ways to improve their classroom and teaching pedagogy.
Click here, here, here, here, and here to see my tweets regarding a few of these chapters.
Chapter 1 discusses the importance of academic achievement, and some of the factors that come into play for student achievement. Many schools are underfunded, which can lead to a lack of resources for students. However, one of the most important resources that every school has is teachers. William proposes that firing or re-locating ineffective teachers is not the solution: rather, we should be assisting our current teachers and teaching them on how to be better educators. His major solution? Embedded formative assessment!
To follow this, Chapter 2 discusses the definition of embedded formative assessment, and why it is so beneficial to our students and classrooms. Many teachers have grown used to implementing what is called summative assessments— meaning, they are at the end of a unit or learning event to summarize and show the learning which occurred throughout the unit in one final product. Now, there is a lot of research to prove that summative assessments (on their own!) are not very effective. Students often memorize information to pass the test, or barely pass the test because they got lost somewhere along the way. William suggests that formative assessments— assessments without a large grade attached to them which are designed to gather data on where the student is currently, and any misunderstandings they might be having— are infinitely more beneficial in the classroom. Being able to see where students are at in your lesson, and being able to adjust their course or encourage their current direction, are essential to genuine learning rather than memorization. The following chapters discuss a number of ways in which you can incorporate these types of assessments.
Chapter 3, called "Clarifying, Sharing, and Understanding Learning Intentions and Success Criteria", is all about attacking the way in which we have been teaching lessons regarding learning objectives and rubrics. Learning objectives and rubrics, especially, need to have direct purpose that is communicated to the students. Telling students the learning object without explaining why it is a learning objective has significantly less value than guiding students through a learning objective and putting them in the driver's seat. From this chapter, my two personal favorite applicable techniques within the classroom would be "What Not to Write"— where students discuss what wouldn't work for an assignment and why— as well as "Test Item Design"— where students design their own questions for the test. I am using a similar technique to "What Not to Write" in my first learning lesson event, where we discuss 'not quite good' interview questions, and discuss why they aren't effective and how they can be improved.
Chapter 4, called "Eliciting Evidence of Learning", is all about different methods to get all students involved, as well as how to ask questions that will really show you where a student's thinking is at.
The beginning of this chapter (as well as the end) go in depth about the importance of misconceptions. Misconceptions are absolutely going to happen in any classroom, as the brain is trained to assume and to connect items, often without factual evidence. Chapter 4 discusses how to make the most of these misconceptions, and how to dig them out in the first place. Asking tricky questions (such as 'no right answers', 'all right answers', 'close call answers', etcetera) require students to think hard about the answer their putting down, and why. These questions are more engaging as well, as students will realize that the questions is difficult, and students will want to know whether they got it right or not more often than with a regular question.
The middle of this chapter discusses a number of strategies teachers can use to ensure that every student is participating, rather than only the brainiacs or the talkative ones. Teachers can try calling on students at random, creating a randomized list to use when calling on students, using popsicle sticks, allowing students to put a finger on their chin if they are still thinking, think-pair-share before randomly calling on students, hot-seat questioning, and/or exit passes. My personal favorites out of this batch are fingers on the chin, randomized lists, and of course think-pair-share. Allowing students to put a finger on their chin when they are thinking is easy to identify (especially if it is being used too often by a student) and it is also a less nerve-wracking way for students to have a safe space in the classroom, so they don't feel too nervous about being called on when they aren't ready. I like the randomized list because it relieves some pressure from students because they know I am not choosing them specifically, and it allows every student to speak at one point in the class (ideally!). Think-pair-share is one of the best teaching strategies you can use because it allows students a constructive way to think with a partner so that they can discuss their feelings or thoughts on a subject before having to share in front of the class.
Chapter 5, called "Providing Feedback That Moves Learning Forward" is all about how to make effective feedback that encourages students to engage in and advance in their learning, rather than giving a student a static grade that they have no control over. Giving encouraging and constructive criticism to students that allows them to learn while feeling fully supported is essential for a thriving classroom. The less we focus on the grade, and the more we focus on the actual learning, the better off our student's will be!
Chapter 6, called "Activating Learners as Instructional Resources for One Another" was one of my favorite chapters, as it discussed the value of peers and social interaction within the classroom. The value of socializing with peers, creating friendships within the classroom, and learning to help those around you as well as feel confident enough to ask others for help are incredibly valuable skills in life, and will be one of the most beneficial lessons students will learn while in school. My two favorite techniques would be "C3B4ME"— a strategy which encourages a student to ask three other peers a question before bringing it to the teacher— and "Two Stars One Wish"— which allows peers to compliment two things when giving a peer feedback, as well as give them some constructive criticism. I will certainly be using these strategies in my classroom, as they encourage student independence, interdependence, as well as the skill to look at someone else's work and to engage in a conversation on what about that work is well done and what needs improvement.
Chapter 7, called "Activating Learners as Owners of Their Own Learning", is about encouraging and allowing students to advocate for themselves in the classroom, and to take advantage of their own learning. The most important step in this process is allowing students to be aware of what they are learning— IE, don't tell a student to do something without first being clear about what you are hoping they will learn. If students are aware of where they are headed, and what they are supposed to be learning, they can take more ownership of what they are taking in during class. My favorite techniques from this chapter are "Learning Logs" as well as "Traffic Lights". I love the idea of learning logs, because reflecting over a class period is always helpful for our brains in reiterating what we just learned. It's also a relaxing way to wind down a class period. Traffic lights exist in a number of different ways— such as asking students to put the amount of fingers up that correspond to their understand of what they are learning (one finger if you really don't understand what's going on, five fingers if you are confident). Students having a nonverbal way in which they can let the teacher know how they are doing is an excellent tool for a teacher to use, and I'm sure it will find its way into my classroom.
My main criteria for any teacher resource is simply this: does it offer tangible solutions and ideas? I full heartedly agreed with this book and the different subjects it amplified, as these are all things I want to make intentional in my future classroom. What made this book a valuable resource for me is the techniques it offered, and the solutions it proposed throughout each chapter. I would recommend this book to any teacher, young or old, who is looking for ways to improve their classroom and teaching pedagogy.
Click here, here, here, here, and here to see my tweets regarding a few of these chapters.
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