Assessment for learning grants educators the ability to use the power of inquiry. When consistently formally and informally assessing your students, you can steer your teachings to where your students WANT to learn. I believe that the curriculum is malleable, and true learning intentions come from our students, not from our formally written lesson plans. The unit that taught me the true force of my students inquiry, is a Science Unit I did on Hatching Chicks. I took out a chick incubator and life cycle kit filled with resources from the District Resource Center, and got donated chick eggs from one of my students’ farms. Upon learning about this unit, my students were HOOKED. They were obsessed with the chicks, and named each egg carefully. Our eggs came to be known as Carl, Komodo Junior, Mickey, Sparkles, Biscuit, Dora, and Eggbert. The day that they hatched was one of the most beautiful learning experiences I have been blessed to be a part of. Every day, both pre and post-hatching, came with new questions, new desires for learning, and new ways of experimenting. My students inquiry dictated our activities, our learning, and our assessments. Each child had a duo tang filled with activities, observations, and ideas that they filled to the brim with new knowledge and questions. The learning was beautiful. I love those little chickies and the learning that they provided for my class.
A few links to refer to for information on Assessment for Learning:
Transforming Assessment – BC’s New Curriculum
https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/node/88
BC’s K-12 Assessment System – BC’s New Curriculum
https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/assessment
Dylan Wiliam – YouTube – Assessment for Learning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiu-jY-xaPg
Dylan Wiliam – YouTube – Assessment Strategies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcJdZGz6ifY
Dylan Wiliam – YouTube – Formative Assessment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYdVe5O7KBE
Assessment: The Bridge Between Teaching and Learning – from Voices in the Middle, Volume 21, Number 2, December 2013
https://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/VM/0212-dec2013/VM0212Assessment.pdf