Maureen's TESL Blog: My Learning Plan (Updated) for Assessment Course

My Learning Plan Rubric Updated (Assessment Course)

Goals:

· Understand what makes for a good assessment

· Learn how to develop good formal assessment tools (eg. rubrics)

· Learn good informal assessment techniques

Learning it:

· Looking at a range of examples of what encompasses good assessment in the course material

· Reading a variety of references (online) and in textbook on assessment types and how to use them.

· Accessing good examples of assessment on Tutela.ca and other websites.

· Viewing assessment techniques in the classroom and talking to mentors about their assessment tools and techniques, and what works for them.

· Viewing the reaction of students in the classroom to different types of assessment, and talking to them about how they feel about different assessments

Achieving it:

· Feeling comfortable with the definitions of different types of assessment and understanding what they mean, through use of course material, websites, mentor and peer information and suggestions.

· Being able to create and practice many types of assessment through classroom activities and assignments.

· Learning about assessment should be an ongoing experience as an ESL teacher, by keeping up with new assessment techniques. This can be done through newsletters (eg. Tutela.ca), Twitter chats, Twitter following (eg. Kelly Morrissey, LINCS) signing up for info from good ESL websites.

Demonstrating it:

· Be able to create various forms of assessment (course activities and assignments) that I would feel comfortable using in a classroom.

· Getting feedback from peers, mentors and teachers that suggest I have accomplished the tasks successfully. For assignment 4, this would be to get a grade of at least 30/35 for me to feel successful.

· Ultimately it's the real classroom experience that will tell if it works, and how I will have to modify assessments to be effective.

Notes and Self-evaluation:

· From volunteering I have learned thatgood assessment is one of the key components of language learning. Throughout the course I have discussed authentic classroom assessment with my mentor and what works for her in the classroom and what to avoid. She has been invaluable in developing my understanding of different types of assessment and how to use them effectively at the CLB 1/2 level. She has also made good suggestions for assessment in other levels that she has taught, and how they compare with CLB 1/2.

· I have also witnessed and helped administer assessments (formal and informal) in the classroom and see from student reaction and feedback how they perceive assessments and some of the difficulties they can have, and now understand how to adjust for these.

· I have also learned how to ensure that assessments are actually testing for the targeted skill, and not complicated by also measuring another skill.

· I have also learned from her that constantly evaluating and updating assessments is important as they will sometimes work for one class but not another.

· I feel comfortable being able to create assessments (formal, informal, summative, rubrics) to incorporate into lesson plans. I understand where to best place these in the lesson and within the course.

· I understand the good assessment is fully integrated and reflective of the lesson plans and material that is presented in the lessons, and the importance of linking these.

· I understand why it is very important to involve learners in the self and peer evaluation and in creating rubrics and understanding assessments for their advancement in learning.

· I now know that there are many, many resources for creating a variety of different types of assessments for all levels and situations of language learning, and have accessed many of them (eg. Tutela.ca, CLB resources, LISTN)

· I know the steps in creating good rubrics for assessment by using Susan Webb’s 5-step list based on the CLB level information. This slide was extremely useful in understanding ‘the how’ of creating a rubric, beginning with a task.

I have good examples of excellent rubrics from Conestoga College and LISTN

· I now recognize how important it is to be able to create and utilize good assessment in my development as an ESL teacher, but also recognize how important constant self-evaluation and evaluation of my lesson plans and assessments is in becoming and continuing to be an effective ESL teacher.

· I believe that I have accomplished my goals set out in my initial Learning Plan.

References:

Brown, D. & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (Rev. 4th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education.

Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks. (n.d.). English as Second Language for Adults.

Toronto, ON: Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks. Retrieved from

https://www.language.ca/publications/english- publications-downloadable/

Citizenship and Immigration Canada, LISTN. (2015) Classroom Assessment Toolkit:

Literacy to CLB 8. Retrieved from https://listn.tutela.ca/resources/linc-\

assessment/classroom- assessment-toolkit.html

Conestoga College, Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada Program.

Retrieved from https://tutela.ca/user106797

Morrissey, K. The Joy of ESL with Teacher Kelly. Retrieved from https://www.kellymorrissey.com