Assessment and Motivation Summative Blog Post:

• Formative vs. Summative Assessment- Formative assessment can be formal or informal and occurs throughout the course and the activity. This form of assessment occurs actively while students work and participate in activities. Summative on the other hand, occurs at the end of learning. Recognizing the difference in the forms of assessment is powerful because it opens opportunities for different ways to assess and gives students the chance to be assessed differently depending on their needs.

• Motivation- Students need motivation to learn. This can be intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, but it must be there. A piece of our discussions that stood out to me is the importance of building relationships with children. Building relationships helps the teacher see where the kids are at and what they need to help them learn. Motivation can include making activities hands-on, fun, or experiential so kids can experience learning in new exciting ways.   

• Equal is not fair- Although it sounds redundant, this course has taught me that it is necessary to see the difference between “fair” and “equal”. Giving all students the same experience in the classroom, the same assessment, and the same motivation is not always beneficial, and it is not always fair. What is fair, is giving every child the same chances for success, which can look different for every child. Students will need different motivation tactics depending on factors in their lives, at school, and at home. Assessment can also look different for every child. Just because all the students don’t show their learning the same way, it does not mean they don’t understand the ideas.

• Descriptive feedback- Descriptive feedback can be challenging to incorporate into learning. Descriptive feedback should be explicit and simple and should explain exactly where the child succeeded and needs improvement. This course taught me that descriptive feedback is harder than it looks, but it is a powerful way to give feedback and see results. It was engaging and difficult to practice getting to know our kids faster at our Harwin In-Situ learning experience, and practice giving descriptive feedback to kids we barely know!