Classes at UBC BEd have started up and are in full swing once again. The main 3 main focuses for this semester are Classroom Management, Assessment, and Inquiry.
I am going to focus on Assessment. As classes began, I was instantly confronted with a large question. How will I assess my students? At first the answer seemed simple, through testing of course, thats what teachers do right? Im at UBC to become an educator, but more specifically a tech and trades educator. I know from my own experiences that a lot of the classes don’t have tests, or final exams. Tech Ed is largely centred around final product quality, how well does the “project” meet the standard. If a student hands in a beautiful replication of the project, A+. If a student hands in something that barely looks like the project, C-. This is how high school was for me, because of that I think I unknowingly assimilated the idea that this was just how it works, but thats not true. I have been learning that as an educator I can abolish the idea of a “standard” in my classroom. Instead of assessing everyone on the final product, I will assess how they individually achieved their final product. What progress did they make throughout the process, and did their attitude show me that they put in the effort. For myself, I believe this is the most effective way of assessing students because it tailors to their individual needs and achievements. At the end of my day I don’t want to just be pushing students through a program, I want to work with them and help them see their work to the end, and show them that everyone is capable when you apply yourself.
TL