Sharing an article by Jessica Partida, Project Consultant
Assessments, data, and learning. OH MY!
Educators are typically well versed in assessments, data collection, and reporting. They are necessary elements in almost everything we do, but sometimes we find ourselves in need of immediate feedback and information while in the midst of instruction. At times, we can look at a kiddo’s smiling face (or his neighbor’s drawn brow) and know we need to make some changes in our lesson or activity. This becomes a little more difficult when you have to try and read ten faces at the same time, or try and read the minds of a room full of children you’ve just met. To help us evaluate performance along the way, we can use informal assessments.
Truth be told, educators often conduct informal assessments without knowing it. Just like deciphering the youth of the look gives us, body language and other physical indicators can tell us just what kids are thinking or feeling. However, there are many tools we can use that allow youth to have a voice and express their feelings without educators attempting to read minds.
Informal assessments are not data-driven, but rather content and performance-driven and can be conducted in a whole group setting or individually. One of the main strengths of informal assessments is that you can do them without a lot of planning and expense. You can receive immediate data and then plan accordingly. They are less stressful for students because they often do not realize they are undergoing an assessment. What’s more, this allows teachers to pinpoint the exact areas of student’s knowledge or skills that need improvement. They can see what skills are mastered, their weaknesses, and how much growth they have demonstrated.
In a learning environment, informal assessments are important because they can help identify potential problem areas and allow for course correction before students are required to demonstrate understanding. They also do a better job of using a student’s interests to motivate and encourage students. In this way, assessments can engage and motivate students in themselves. Teachers can also adapt their assessment to meet the needs of the student and his/her specific style of learning. These informal assessments take place multiple times a day, and this provides multiple opportunities for the teacher and students to benefit.
- There are hundreds of informal assessments and evaluations that are being used by educators daily. Here are a few fresh ideas presented by Dr. Deborah A. McDonald at this year’s National 4-H Volunteer Conference hosted by the 4-H Volunteer Conference of Southern States.
- Index Cards with the simple question: “What did you do today?” and “How can I use or apply what I learned?”
- Have learners create a Top 10 list. For example, “Top 10 Things About Camp.”
- A parody or satirical statement that begins with “Research has proven…” For example, “Research has proven that printers don’t work correctly unless you need to print something immediately.”
- Emoji cards. Place a stack of emoji face cards on each table/desk and ask youth to choose one several times during your lesson or activity.
- Use a dot voting system for fun charts and graphs
- Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down with closed eyes Ask youth to close their eyes and give a simple thumbs up to indicate they are having a positive experience with the activity, a thumbs down if they are having a not-so-positive experience with the activity, or a sideways thumb to indicate they have a neutral attitude towards the activity. “Eyes closed” creates the capacity for youth to reveal more accurate feelings and attitudes, especially if the question concerns comprehension or understanding of the material.
- Graffiti Walls Graffiti walls are great spaces for youth not only to record their comments and questions about a topic but to help youth see and “hear” each other’s ideas. It also gives highly visual learners an opportunity to express learning in a way that may not be seen by other students. Graffiti walls can be tailored to the size of your space, the topic of your choosing, etc.
- What did you like/What would you change? W ith a simple graphic organizer and Post-it notes, you can create a powerful informal assessment that gives you a ton of information. Youth can anonymously post as many or as few Post-its in each column as they want at the end of the lesson or activity, providing valuable feedback to the facilitator.
- Dice Questions: Each number on the die correlates to a question, such as: What did you like about today? What are you going to share with your parents about what you learned today? What would you change about today?
- Caption This! Have kids write a caption for a picture relating to your lesson. For example, if the lesson or activity was on searching for a job (Pounding the Pavement, p. 61 of Build Your Future), have kids caption a picture similar to this, using guiding questions such as “What is the easiest part of networking?”
Using informal assessments before, during, and after a lesson can be impactful and immediately useful to the educator. Let your creativity soar and share your ideas with others on how you are implementing these into your work!