Reading Reflection 9 : Making Assessment Meaningful

1. What is a method for understanding Prior Knowledge of students?
A method you can use for understanding the prior knowledge of students is using a KWL chart. A KWL chart has the students list everything they know about the subject matter, what they want to know about the subject matter, and than what they have learned about the subject matter at the end. Since everyones knowledge differs in the beginning its important to figure out where everyone is at and these charts are a great way!
2.Why is it important to establish anchors for a project?
When you establish an anchor you as the teacher get a sense of where the students are starting off with the knowledge they know and how far they want to go or are willing to go to meet the needs of the learning goal you have set for them or the expectation you have set for them. This is very important because you want all your students to be interested and successful with their learning processes.
3. What are some ways to assess what students have learned during the project?
A rubric is a great way to assess the students and give them meaningful feedback regarding why you have scored them the way you did. An online grade book is a great way to measure students progress through many categories that can be relayed back to the students. Giving tests based on traditional tools is another great way to monitor progress as well as beneficial tests in general. Another one is to have students create something new in a project that synthesis what they have learned.
4. How do these concepts relate to gardening?
We will be assessing our students on the progress of their plant growth, how they sell their vegetables to the food markets. We will be using a rubric and taking notes on each of the students progress to see how they are progressing through the unit.