It's still news to me that tables have turned. All the way till the end of my B.Ed, I've always been anxious to know how much I got on my papers, assignments, and tests. I've always cared about the marks I received as I would reflect back on the amount of effort I had put forth in completing the task. During this practicum, I realized that this time I would not be the one waiting for a mark, but rather giving a mark to all the students.
Since I taught two units - Math (Cylinders) and Language (Poetry) in a grade 8 class, I got a lot of practice in creating different types of assessment measures as well as giving a numerical value. I used both formative and summative forms of assessments. I observed the students level of participation, how productive/on-task students were during work periods, and group participation, as well as developed quizzes, certain worksheets, a final unit test or final culminating task.
MATH: I felt it was much easier and less time-consuming to grade Math because it was less subjective and most of the time there was only one answer to each question.
POETRY: I felt it was more time-consuming to grade language because there were varied answers/responses. Additionally, although I placed more emphasis on fulfilling the requirements (length, number of poems, structure, etc), there was still a level of subjectivity (clarity and creativity) which I had to be very careful so that I would grade fairly and appropriately.
For the majority, both the grade 8 classes did wonderful. One of my most exciting moment was when a boy who struggled in Math throughout the year ended up with a 100% in my unit! It was remarkable to see (and he was definitely moved too as he instantly took a picture of his final grade and texted it to his mom) [Nope, I did not take the phone away from him!]
While grading though, I did not forget the anxiety and anticipation I've had during my whole schooling life, hence I made sure I'd fulfill what I wanted to see in my own teachers:
Since I taught two units - Math (Cylinders) and Language (Poetry) in a grade 8 class, I got a lot of practice in creating different types of assessment measures as well as giving a numerical value. I used both formative and summative forms of assessments. I observed the students level of participation, how productive/on-task students were during work periods, and group participation, as well as developed quizzes, certain worksheets, a final unit test or final culminating task.
MATH: I felt it was much easier and less time-consuming to grade Math because it was less subjective and most of the time there was only one answer to each question.
POETRY: I felt it was more time-consuming to grade language because there were varied answers/responses. Additionally, although I placed more emphasis on fulfilling the requirements (length, number of poems, structure, etc), there was still a level of subjectivity (clarity and creativity) which I had to be very careful so that I would grade fairly and appropriately.
For the majority, both the grade 8 classes did wonderful. One of my most exciting moment was when a boy who struggled in Math throughout the year ended up with a 100% in my unit! It was remarkable to see (and he was definitely moved too as he instantly took a picture of his final grade and texted it to his mom) [Nope, I did not take the phone away from him!]
While grading though, I did not forget the anxiety and anticipation I've had during my whole schooling life, hence I made sure I'd fulfill what I wanted to see in my own teachers:
- graded it as soon as possible
- level of expectations were fair and clear
- provided descriptive feedback
- gave out stickers (yup, they students still love them)/ remarks (Well done!)
- gave opportunities for improvement
- met with students that struggled and ensured they corrected their mistakes (next time)
Glad to read that you had such a learning rich practicum although I knew you would! Great work, Ms. Sai!
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