Assessments

Assessments are something that all teachers must use to evaluate what students are learning. Summative assessments assess the cumulation of students learning; usually, these are completed after the instruction is finished. These assessments are great for evaluating students’ understanding of the learning contents and, subsequently, the standards. Still, this type of assessment doesn’t give insight into the daily progress. Tests, midterms, final projects, end of unit tests, portfolios, and standardized tests are all examples of summative assessments. Formative assessments are used to check the ongoing status of students’ understanding of instructional activities and materials; these are usually completed throughout the lesson or unit. This type of assessment has a more practical application. Through formative assessment, teachers can help students work through content daily and don’t necessarily have graded consequences. I think that formative assessments offer an excellent opportunity to provide students with feedback and give students time to work through questions and ideas independently and with their peers. Formative assessments can take many forms, from observation to exit tickets. In the article 10 Innovative Formative Assessments, I thought the think-pair-share strategy seemed like a fun way to combine assessment and discussion, as well as peer interaction.