This unit made me feel particularly excited and motivated to do my best regarding assessment. It provided me with much greater clarity about how to carry out formal assessment properly, and it also helped me realize how strongly high-quality feedback can impact students’ learning processes.
One key aspect I would like to highlight about formative assessment is its focus on developing students’ metacognition through specific, descriptive, and constructive feedback. A clear example of this is the video included in Unit Two, “Austin’s Butterfly.” Through this video, I was able to appreciate how effective detailed feedback can be, as well as how a student can significantly improve their work when given clear and specific guidance. Additionally, it was interesting to observe how engaged the students were while watching the story and how they were able to understand the importance of being aware of their own learning process without the teacher explicitly explaining it.
Because of this, I plan to use the same example from the video during the first week of school with my future students, as it offers an easy, appealing, and effective way to introduce the importance of understanding and taking responsibility for one’s own learning. Furthermore, I will be more intentional about scheduling time for feedback in order to ensure that it is specific, meaningful, and supportive of student improvement.