Assessment...ugh

Let's think back for a minute. Waaaayyyy back to elementary school. What did assessment mean? If your school experience was anything like mine it probably meant...

...fear, panic, dread. Few things struck terror into me as immediately and overwhelmingly as the word "test".

The funny thing was, I was an alright student. I knew my stuff. So why all the fear and the anxiety? One word:

I've never performed well under pressure (even now). So why do we feel it's ok now to subject our own students to this type of testing? Maybe I'm being a little dramatic but I've made my point. Assessment that relys only on high stakes summative tasks is not effective (how I ever got through high school, I'll never know).

This blog will be a practical resource for effective assessment in the classroom. From types of assessment, to professional obligations and expectations, to tools and activities that you can use in your classroom. My goal here is to take the stress and anxiety, for both us and our students, out of assessment (yes, it can be done).