Making Assessment Meaningful & Celebrating and Reflecting

Making Assessment Meaningful:
I would assume that between the role of consumer and producer, students are most familiar with being a consumer. My assumptions are based on how much I have observed the purchasing behavior of teens and children of today. Many of them are “sold” or marketed to by commercials, music, videos, etc. They feed their minds and ask their parents to go out and buy them what they have seen. It is rare that I hear of students developing their own products at their will. I believe the assumption is not only for students, but for many adults as well.
In measuring the distance a student has traveled as a learner I would use many methods. The major thing to do when measuring distance or growth is to establish baselines for the learner. I would use a combination of methods and strategies that would include the development of rubrics, and the use of a variety of assessment methods. In order to establish effective communication to the learners regarding their gains is establishing mutual expectations. I believe that it is important to obtain the students input on what they expect to learn as well as what the teacher expects of them. After a baseline has been established and the project or assignment is complete, I would include various methods such as peer grading, self-evaluation, as well as an evaluation from the teacher. I would conduct sessions such as lessons learned that would provide students the opportunity to reflect on what went wrong or opportunities for improvement. This method would be use preferably for group projects. In incorporating the lessons learned sessions, I would allow the students to use web 2.0 tools such as blogs and work spaces to make comments and recommendations for improvements on their projects. I would also suggest that students research similar projects or assignments to see the different methods that were used to accomplish similar tasks.
As an educator it’s important to convey the “why” for assignments and include the benefits for students while making it relative and realistic to everyday life. I believe this will help generate interest and allow them to have more a responsibility to be actively involved in their learning.