Intentional Instruction: Continuous Assessments

Intentional Teaching. I dont recall how I first came to identify with this concept, and I practice it so frequently my ego wants to claim it as my own original thought. It is probably the title of one of the textbooks I read during college.

Any educator committed to serving their students with individualized lessons that cater to the child's unique learning styles and abilities is practicing intentional teaching. They may not use the terminology, but they are teaching with specific goals and intentions in mind for their students. The child's learning is not happen-stance. While there is a place for spontaneous learning, there is also structured activities planned throughout the day.

Prior to weekly lesson planning is an important pre-planning treatment: Assessment. This allows for the child's level of development to be identified. Depending on the type of assessment and it's format, the child's learning style and barriers to learning can also be identified. There are generally two categories of assessment in early education: formal and informal. An example of a formal assessment is the standardized achievement tests many states require in public schools. These tools are objective and all students are viewed by the same lens. An example of informal assessments are portfolios. Portfolios give a subjective look at students through their collected work, interviews, photographs and tell a more detailed story of the students strengths and weaknesses. The need of the test-giver will determine which assessment is used.

Assessment must be done continuously so the student's progress can be seen and the teacher can adjust the lessons in a timely manner. A formal assessment can be done upon entry into the classroom so the teacher is aware of what the child knows, then it is done again 3-5 months later to determine if the teacher needs to revisit concepts and/or reevaluate if the teaching style is serving the child's learning style, then again in 3-5 months to assess what the child has learned and retained. Checklists are a quick, inexpensive formal assessment and can be found easily via google.

Informal assessments are also done continuously throughout the school year so the students and teacher are aware of the child's progress. Portfolios can include art work, science and math self-created worksheets, photos of the child displaying motor skills, voice recordings, writing samples, self-made books, teacher anecdotal notes, ect. Essentially items that show what the child knows and what they can do. Portfolio's may also show what the child is not 'good at' per se, and rather the developmental stage of a skill. Informal assessments are more holistic than formal assessments because they give a more detailed picture. They can be problematic because of the subjectivity involved, with no standard which to hold the child's work. It is comprised of samples collected at a specific time to show where the child is developmentally and academically.

Portfolios are great for building your student's self-concepts because they can see their academic growth over time. They can also contribute their own chosen documents. This may motivate them to improve the quality of their work for chance of selection. Informal assessments can be an end-of-the-year keepsake for parents also.

Both formal and informal assessments are used by intentional teachers. This relevant, timely information about the child's strengths and weaknesses are considered during group time interactions, as well as factored into lesson plans. Specific activities, books, games, songs, and discussions are selected to support learning needs, while reinforcing mastered concepts.