Reflection on Professional Inquiry Project
What I Have Learned:
Working on and developing this Professional Inquiry Project has been a very eye-opening experience for me in terms of understanding assessment. Since starting my Education degree, I have found assessment to be my biggest challenge. Interviewing various teachers and educators allowed me to see what assessment looks like from an everyday, practical point of view. I came to understand that there is not one specific way that teachers chose to assess their students, but multiple different ways that are dependent on many factors, including teaching contexts, grade level, and subject. However, I did come to find that there are definitely better ways to assess than others. The most informative and beneficial research that I found while working on this project was that assessment should always start by looking at the curricular outcomes. This may seem quite obvious, but it seems that many teachers, new and experienced, seem to push the outcomes to the side when they are planning and delivering their assessments. If the outcomes are the priority, everything else falls into place quite easily.
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My Next Steps:
As I complete this project and approach the end of my internship, I look back on this term and realize the growth and development that I have made throughout it. This project definitely played a part in making me the best possible teacher that I can be. In terms of assessment, I plan to definitely take into account all of the research that I have gathered for this project. It has given me direction and clarity of how I will plan my assessment in the future, as well as helped calm my nerves. I was previously feeling quite anxious about entering the world of teaching as a hired professional and planning my own assessments. However, I believe that if I keep in mind my research, especially starting with the curricular outcomes, I will find success when planning and delivering my assessments to students. I feel that the photo that is featured below, which has been taken from a Professional Development session that I attended this term, summarizes how I now feel about assessment perfectly. I am feel that I am still confused about assessment in some ways, but I do not think that any teacher completely grasps and perfects assessment throughout their entire career. I vow to always be a life long learner and strive to consistently improve my assessment competency over time.
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