A group of dedicated educators gather each week to discuss best practices & designing the school of the future. @yankee_todd is a third year principal of the middle school in San Antonio. #neisdpln is an amazing hour each Monday night at 7:30 central time.
I’m Ali Hill from Bradley MS. I teach 6th grade English/Reading block and 7th-8th grade journalism. During our first week, we did a book tasting to introduce students to different genres! So fun! #neisdpln
A1: assessments are a key checkpoint along the learning process. They should be used to guide instruction to provide feedback to Teachers and students. #neisdpln
A1: FORMAL & INFORMAL assessments are important because it is one form of data we can use to know where are students are “glowing” and where they need to “grow”. #neisdpln
A1: I think assessments are important to making sure our kids are learning what they need to know and so we can address any places they need help. They shouldn't be punitive. #neisdpln
I’m Ali Hill from Bradley MS. I teach 6th grade English/Reading block and 7th-8th grade journalism. During our first week, we did a book tasting to introduce students to different genres! So fun! #neisdpln
A1: Testing is vital and plays a huge role in decision making in our jobs. Intervention and differentiation are are decided by assessments, whether formal or informal. #neisdpln
A1: Assessments always help to understand what students are thinking and how they were processing new information and making connections. I used them for my own instructional feedback; how can I make lessons more effective to help students? #neisdpln
A1: Assessments, both formal and informal, serve as a way for us to check for understanding with ss. They also help drive our instruction and allow us to reflect on what we are doing well on or what needs to be improved! #neisdpln
Q2: When designing assessments, what do you do to make sure that the assessment relates directly to the learning outcomes you have identified? #neisdpln
A1 Assessments are an essential part of progress monitoring. Data is integral to measuring our instructional effectiveness. If I don’t know how kids are responding how do I know if I’m really teaching? #neisdpln
A2: It definitely helps to collaborate! I work really closely with my partner to make sure we address all targets. We also ask things in a variety of ways to assess all levels. #neisdpln
A little late to the #neisdpln party- Amanda Galvin from Instructional technology
A1: without assessments we will never know where students are in the learning process.
A2: compare to lesson plans and have colleagues verify; make material accessible to students with different needs by redesigning format/layout/mode/etc. #neisdpln
A1: assessments are key because they show you where you want to be and where you are. And from there you design lessons to fill the gaps to attain success. #neisdpln
A2: I like to use a variety of assessments throughout our units of study, not just a test at the end. The @lead4ward app provides a lot of easy, but fun and effective ways to check for understanding. #neisdpln
This! There are so many different ways for kids to show their understanding. I use a lot of AVID strategies to gauge understanding as we go. I've been working on adding more lead4ward things as well. #neisdpln
A3: Time? What's that? Oh, I added an extra hour in the day with my magic wand. Ha! The GREAT thing about co-teaching is it allows for conferencing individually when we can find the time. Coaching before/after school, too. #neisdpln
A3: I build in time during stations to provide feedback on a 1-1 or small group basis. Students track their data in their leadership binders and reflect on it using their Seesaw portfolio so they have easy access. #neisdpln
Q3: I give weekly quizzes online using the @Socrative app. It allows me to give the kids instant feedback on their quiz. When they're finished, they can choose a number of activities to address their weaknesses or to enrich their strengths. #neisdpln
A2: By checking the validity of the content taught in class with what I am assessing. Did they match the learning targets identified? Also, all needs to correlate with the identified TEKS for that unit. In short, did I assess them on what I needed to teach. #neisdpln
A3: There's never enough time, but sometimes one-on-one is easiest or small group. When we use Google for work, I love adding comments to students' work. #neisdpln
A3: small group or one on one conferencing. We do a lot stations so it is easier to pull a few kids who need to reflect on their assessments or check for understanding in a different way. #neisdpln
A3: Use a tool that can capture student learning and thinking like @Seesaw Respond through a comment. Can be done from your phone 24/7 #neisdpln PS: #NEISD is a @Seesaw for schools district for all elementary schools 😉 😉
A3: I always try to give immediate feedback. Technology helped me a lot with this and still does. The faster the turn around on an assessment the easier it was to correct misconceptions and find better methods to help students to close gaps. #neisdpln
absolutely! Feedback needs to be immediate which is why I love Google apps for education and @Seesaw! Best part is parents see it immediately and can provide immediate feedback as well. #neisdpln
A4: It's hard not to take it personally, but results speak volumes. Admitting there was a misfire in instruction is more than half the battle. Teaming/planning also helps us look at ways to re-teach. #neisdpln
A4: assessments tell me my weaknesses when I see the majority of sts aren’t meeting or mastering. It makes me reevaluate my practices and methods. Always changing it up is a must. #neisdpln
A4: Lets me know if there were any errors on my part. Being in middle school, I can really tell the difference between class periods and their results. I think back and ask myself if I taught differently to one class than another. Always room to improve! #neisdpln
A4: This is a tough one. It's easy to feel discouraged after assessments sometimes. But it also is a great time to try again with something new! If kids did well, it's a chance to assess why things worked and use that knowledge in the future. #neisdpln
A4: I ask myself: who needs reteaching? How can I teach the concept in a better way so all SS can master it? Can they show it in more than one way? It’s also important to not be too hard on yourself...some SS just need more time and that’s okay! #NEISDpln
A4: Assessments reflect what my strengths and weaknesses are for that unit/objectives. If an objective scores low, we find new ways to teach the concept and assess again. We do this a lot with our 3rd grade intervention groups across grade level after benchmarks. #neisdpln
A4: I ask myself: who needs reteaching? How can I teach the concept in a better way so all SS can master it? Can they show it in more than one way? It’s also important to not be too hard on yourself...some SS just need more time and that’s okay! #NEISDpln
A4: I use a lot of self-reflection for assessment. Great to model first for students to show how I reflect on my teaching/learning. They see there is always room to grow. Powerful for Ss to self-assess and often challenging for them. #neisdpln
A4: I am going to nerd out but this is my favorite question so far!! 🤓 YES! I look for trends in data, which contents have my students been consistently low in. This is an area I need to grow in. I ask my peers what they are doing and how they reach their students. #neisdpln
A5: I study released STAAR questions very closely and make sure answer choices have the variety embedded in STAAR: number lines, equations, words, and models. I also take into account # of readiness and supporting questions. #nerdalert#neisdpln
A5: This is hard for me sometimes. Our material is already pretty rigorous, so adding the STAAR rigor can been daunting. We rely on released tests and the assistance of our specialist. There's also the misconception that rigor means "harder". #neisdpln
A5: use STAAR stems, research past tests to see patterns and trends. Don’t inundate them with too many passages and million questions. just watch the format. #neisdpln
A3: A variety of tools can be used for feedback. The key is don't overdo it on one assessment. You shouldn't have 20 items to assess 2 skills/TEKS. Peer to peer feedback if so much more powerful than you can imagine. #flipgridfever baby! #neisdpln
A5: look at released STAAR questions, collaborate with vertical teams, look how TEKS vertically align. Even those Kinder TEKS matter to set the foundation for STAAR! #NEISDpln
Time for our last question. I wanted to change it up a bit and let you have choice. Q6: Tag, you're it! What question/s do you have about assessments? Please post your question and we’ll all chime in. #neisdpln
A4: I look at how students performed on each part of the assessment to determine which areas I need to reteach and I make notes on my lesson plans so that the next time I work on those lessons I know what areas I need to improve on the most. #neisdpln
A6: Has anyone created assessments and tracked their own assessment’s data in Aware? I made some as my TTESS goal last year in math and had so much fun! #nerdalert#mathcurriculumismyjam#neisdpln
A6: We challenge ourselves to incorporate differentiation and technologically geared lessons/assessments...So A) why hasn't the state caught up with us? B) Why does the state rely on paper/pencil/20th century assessment methods? #neisdpln
A5: First step: aligned with the TEKS. Second, make sure the assessment is not just multiple choice. Open ended the questions!! Reflective Writing!! Kids need time to process their information. We need to see how they are processing information and making connections. #neisdpln
hooray!! That's awesome! I do love Aware and how easily it allows us to see where our students are and what their needs are. And as always, what we can celebrate! #neisdpln
I love having students who have mastered concepts create Kahoots or jeopardy games using Chromebooks for their classmates. It's definitely a win win situation for everyone! #neisdpln
I've done this before! The kids love it! I basically challenge them to write a test question when they review their C-Notes for the week. They love trying to make their classmates think! They also get a kick of seeing their question on the quiz. #neisdpln
I love having students who have mastered concepts create Kahoots or jeopardy games using Chromebooks for their classmates. It's definitely a win win situation for everyone! #neisdpln
