How will we know what we have achieved?
Sharing responsibility for learning means taking young people into one's confidence and actively involving them in the process of reflection, repetition and feedback necessary for learning.
(Alexander, 2001, p. 79)
You and the pupils should collect evidence to show what has been learned and achieved. You will already have some material from the classroom activities carried out which you can use for assessment purposes. There are various ways you can carry out additional assessment and evaluation, including self-assessment at the end of a topic, such as asking the pupils to carry out the same activity as at the start of the topic - the brainstorm or picture activity - and then compare results.
The activity on the right gives you the opportunity to try some ideas.
Activity Resources:
- Images
- Interactive
- Sound
- Text
- Video
Activity
- Use one of the activities below with your pupils, as a way to self-assess a recent topic you have been working on.
- Discuss with the pupils afterwards the effectiveness of the technique, and whether or not they enjoyed it and would like you to use it again. You could ask colleagues to try out some of these activities too.
Feedback forms
Click on the Text icon above to find 'Groupwork feedback' forms (Steiner, 1993, pp. 58-9), which pupils can fill in.
Smiley faces
Draw three faces on separate sheets of paper (smile, straight mouth and frown) and put them in three corners of the room. Then ask pupils to go to the face that best represents their response to questions that you give them about the work they have done and their performance.
Circle time
The class sits in a circle. Go round the circle, allowing each pupil to speak uninterrupted in answer to a question, or to complete the stem of a sentence, for example 'One thing I have learned about (this topic) is ...' or 'One thing I have learned how to do while working on (this topic) is ...' Pupils can pass if they wish. There should be no interrupting.
Interviews
Pupils interview each other in pairs about what they have learned. Prepare the interview questions, and the system of how to record the responses, with the whole class before you start.
Journals
Pupils fill in a diary on a daily or weekly basis or as a one off, as appropriate. This records their views on the topic and their thoughts on what they are learning.
