Assessments within the Game Plan

It’s difficult to pretend that we are implementing a game plan in the middle of the summer, but as far as anticipatory preparation, there are some things that I have begun to consider this week. Most of my focus is currently centered around assessment, and as I work with the other 7th grade math teachers in my district, I have been challenged to create the multiple choice portion of our unit assessments. I am using a program called Exam View Pro, that enables us to have the tests stored on an in-house server for student accessibility through their laptops. After the assessment, teachers receive an automated e mail with regard to student performance.

I also frequently use the active votes that accompany my Promethian board. These student devices allow me to create instantaneous “Forced Response” questions to formatively assess my students’ progress during every class day.

The greatest area where I struggle for valid assessments is in the area of project assessments. As a beginning teacher over 20 years ago, it was very simple to create numerous projects in order to occupy and instruct my students. This led to a very high level of motivation and learning as would be expected in a project based classroom. As I have matured as a teacher, I have become considerably more focused with regard to my teaching objectives. I have come to realize that subsequent teachers in the progression of mathematics depend upon my reaching the finish line with regard to the objectives that support the standards to which I am charged. I am really looking forward to a set of national standards so that groups of teachers or textbook companies will assist in the creation of project based learning activities that specifically target GLE’s while tapping into students’ natural motivation and curiosity. I am interested to learn if there are some of these programs already in existence that would meet the needs of seventh grade mathematics students. I’m not one to follow someone else’s plan step by step, but I sure appreciate a guide in the proper direction! Thanks in advance for any help that you can give me.