Standard 7: Assessment

The practitioner understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the learner.

September 26th- Thursday

Today in chemistry we passed back unit 1 exams. The students got to view their exams and the rubric to see how it was graded. A few students were upset when they got one point wrong and it brought them down to a level 1. I walked the students through how to read a rubric. I explained that “if you missed 1 question but it was a fundamental question that is why I could only give you a level 1 in that skill. Even if you got the advanced question right, it puzzles me that you couldn’t get the fundamental question correct. These topics will be in the unit 2 test and I want you to do well in that so you may spend some time viewing your exams outside of class and retake the sections you want to improve on.” My 1st and 2nd hour classes were the very upset with their grades and had the hardest time reading the rubric. Most likely because these students are very amped about their grades. However these students do not come in for extra help after school because they are very involved with their extra-curricular activities. A few parents have complained about the approach to grading, the standards based grading, is not making their students happy. So Ms. Brown had a few conferences during the week with these parents to straighten out what was communicated from student to parent. Ms. Brown and I talked about how the students blew out of proportion what happened in class, “I only missed 1 point and now I’m at a level 1.” The students had not clearly read the rubric they were give to see how to get a level 2, 3, or 4. 

After the exam, we administered a pre-assessment about the atomic structure. I had the students correct their own quizzes using the SMARTboard because I did not want to grade anything after grading all their exams and I wanted to know if anyone was currently at a level 4 so I could record it in the gradebook and give them an extension activity, rather than an activity that they already have mastered. I had about three students from each 1st and 2nd hour class that needed an extension activity. The rest of the students got a packet on isotopes and ions. These packets were POGIL activities, so inquiry based learning. The students had to challenge themselves to figure out the puzzles they were presented with. They also had to analyze data tables and make their own conclusions. Ms. Brown and I walked around the room if there were questions. But I was sure to set the expectation that I wanted them to challenge themselves. Most students got through the isotope packet and started the ion packet. What they did not finish in class they completed at home. Again they don’t receive points for any homework/assignments, only their test scores. So I just said, “these packets will be good for your notes to prepare you for the lesson tomorrow and your exam, be sure to complete it.”