Student Engagement and Investment
InTASC Standard 6: The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.
Most of my students are also motivated by their grades, and assessments in my class hold a high percentage of the students' weighted grades. Tests throughout the semester are 25% of their semester grade, while the mid-term and final exams are 10% each of the students' total year grade. However, earning a good grade is not the sole manner in which I motivate students in my classes. I stress the importance of learning another language, whether that is for job opportunities, expanding communication with people in the community and around the world, or personal development. I also include engaging and relevant material, so that students participate and become life-long language learners.
Engagement and Investment in Grades
The idea of assessments is generally not something that excites students, and many of my students enter the classroom uninterested in Spanish as a subject. Grades are a driver for student engagement in the class. Most of my students want to earn good grades. They want to pass the class. However, as Michael Fullan (2012) mentions, "Diagnostic assessments can also be used to identify learners' interests and level of individual learning preference or style" (Laureate Education, 2012). I can engage students through grades and also show how much they have grown in their language-learning abilities. Last year I created a reward system to get my students excited and invested in the material and to study for the assessments. I tracked class averages and at the end of each period, the class with the highest assessment average would have a party day. This excited many of my students. On top of a reward system, frequent assessment can be used to invest students in the material. When I give diagnostics, many students say that they do not understand and that the material is too difficult. I respond by saying that this is all the material that they will understand by the end of the unit, semester, or year depending on the diagnostic. Once we finish the unit and they see their progress, they become excited. I have had many students exclaim when they saw how much that they had learned. Also, by giving students a diagnostic and the material that we will be learning in that unit, the students feel like they have more control of what they learn.
Student assessment grades (by class average) throughout the year
Here is a photo of our class assessment wall. I tracked all our unit assessments, vocabulary quizzes and mid-term up on this wall. What I found halfway through the year was a lack of excitement to compete with other classes by my Period 1, 4 and 7, as Period 2 and 6 won all of the competitions. I also learned from this board that my assessments were too easy for my Period 2 and 6 class. It was comforting knowing that my instruction was successful, but many of the students in these two classes were not being challenged enough. This year, I am applying what this wall taught me. I am quizzing more frequently and ensuring that I do not spend too much time on a topic if all my students are receiving A's and B's. Spending too much time on a topic can cause students to become bored, so there is definitely a balance to maintain. The frequent assessment keeps students engaged in the material, with enough time to learn the material but not so much time that they become bored.
Further Engagement and Investment
I further invest students in the material and their growth through formative assessments, such as frequent check ins. I plan fun and engaging activities, such as music lessons, videos lessons, projects, etc., and frequently check their progress. This is a fun way to tie assessment with relevant and engaging material. For example, during music lessons, the students listen to a song in Spanish and use whiteboards to check for understanding. They start the song intimidated and unable to understand anything. By the end of the class, after numerous checks for understanding, they are surprised and excited with how much they understand within the song. This applies to video lessons, as well. The students are intimated and overwhelmed by hearing native speakers speaking so quickly that they often shut down. However, with many activities and checks for understanding, they begin to understand what is being said and process it. By the end of class, they are impressed with how much they learned and understood within the video. I work to create fun and interesting lessons and pair them with frequent assessment to engage students in the material. After all, my goal is for students to become language learners for life.
The students listening to a Spanish song and filling in the missing words.
In the photo above, the students listen to a song in Spanish and fill in the blanks with the missing words related to material we learn in class. This is a fun way to check for understanding. By the end of music lessons such as this one, the students generally are excited that they are able to understand so much of the song. Many tell me that they add the song to their music playlists. This fits my goal of making students life-long learners.
The students watching a show in Spanish and responding to questions that check for understanding.
In the photo above, the students watch a show in Spanish and respond to questions in Spanish related to the show and material in class. This is a fun way to check for understanding. By the end of video lessons such as this one, the students generally are excited that they are able to understand so much of the show. In fact, many students that I have had in previous years stop by my class and tell me how memorable the video lessons were for them. These lessons show them that watching shows and movies in Spanish is a powerful way to learn and improve their Spanish.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Diagnostic assessment. Baltimore, MD: Author.