679 Artifact Reflection #1

In Module 3, I compared two digital tools and designed two formative assessments for my high school Earth Science course. My first formative assessment (link) was made with Google Forms about stars. My second formative assessment (link) was made with Formative about groundwater resources.

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I use Google Classroom in my classes, so for most formative assessments I push out the links through Classroom then collect and review responses once students are completed. Most of us know that formative assessments are meant are meant as a check-in for students to demonstrate their learning at a certain point in a unit and helps a teacher to ascertain their current understanding of skills and concepts. Teachers need to plan each assessment so that it provides direct evidence of student proficiency on learning standards.

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Any of my science lessons could be 1-3 days. Through daily questioning and discussion, I’m constantly assessing my students. I give entrance or exit slips every few days and formative (practice) assessments (or quizzes) once a week. Sometimes I release the answers as soon as they complete the formative assessment, other times I show the responses from the whole class as a discussion, and still other times I assess on an individual level to look closely at each student’s progressive mastery on a learning goal or standard.

I like using Google Forms because it’s easy, quick, and intuitive. Google Forms works well with Google Classroom and I like that the assessment results go straight to a Google Sheets page. It allows me to analyze data and give students quick feedback on their performance. With certain add-ons, grading is a cinch. I used Formative for the first time in completing the module 3 assignment. I liked Formative because it was also easy, quick, and intuitive. The biggest positive difference was the ability to link NGSS standards to each question. Because this was my first time using it, I don’t know how the student’s results will look, but I’m convinced I’ll be using Formative as another tool in my assessment toolbox.