Dimitri Syros
Social Studies Teacher
ASSESSMENT
Assessments are the tool by which teachers can gauge their students understanding of a given topic. Whether they be formal or informal, assessments must efficiently be folded into the curriculum to be sure that students are on track to reach their academic goals. A well designed assessment can reveal an abundance of information about student knowledge, from exposing misconceptions to informing remediation and reteaching plans if need be. An effective teacher maintains a variety of assessment styles in their arsenal to accommodate all of the types of learners in a given class that transcend traditional, yet incomplete, methods of assessment such as lengthy multiple choice examinations. Assigning a form of assessment is the first step in a student's journey towards mastery of a standard as instructor feedback, reevaluation and conferencing are all methods to continue a student's engagement with the content. Furthermore students are pushed to set ambitious academic goals as it pertains to the standard and are assisted in tracking their own data. Measuring achievement and progress through data analytics will aid students in adopting growth mindsets that will take them far beyond engaging with a standard.
In my classroom, a variety of diagnostic, formative and summative assessments are used to access student understanding and progression towards a goal. Results of different assessments inform the pacing of the class to be sure that we are on track to master all benchmarks and standards in approach of our state examination. Experimenting with assessment styles further inform my pedagogy and allow me to better engage with my students and invest them in our rigorous content through building personal connections. Finally, through tracking and revisiting assessment data, I am able to create clusters of students around benchmarks to prepare for our final examination and engage in differentiated instruction throughout the year.
The clickable words above the images below pertain to various assessment methods for the aforementioned standard.
DIAGNOSTIC FORMATIVE SUMMATIVE
In order to ensure effective assessment design and administration, it is important to utilize data to inform decision making and instructional planning as well as engage students with results. Once familiar with their scores and feedback students can monitor their progress and create growth goals. Assessment design and structure should cater to all students strengths by providing a variety of methods that appeal to different types of learners. Through analyzing data and tangible progress, students are very much a part of the assessment creation process and their progress impacts instructional choices.
Teaching Philosophy Diagnostic