TS2 report form

This extract was taken from my end of professional practice report form for PP2. My mentor states that I am acutely aware of all children’s attainment within the class which enables me to effectively plan learning activities to help the children make good progress in their knowledge and understanding. My own personal reflection throughout practice enabled me to consider the methods of teaching which were most beneficial to each individual child and consequently provided me with the means to adapt my own teaching to meet the strengths and needs of all.

I strongly believe that collaborative activities can enable children to progress in their learning more effectively than being limited to their own personal views and ideas. My target of continuing to regularly create opportunities for independent and autonomous learning arose through the identification of the level of scaffolding provided to some children perhaps unnecessarily in some instances. However, I do still believe that a good combination of both collaborative and independent learning opportunities need to be provided to all children.

Self and peer evaluation

Marking Ladders – letter writing

Progressing from my understanding of Two Stars and a Wish, as previously discussed, I implemented the attached form of self and peer evaluation through Professional Practice 2.

Being accountable for children’s attainment, progress and outcomes is a vital part of the teaching cycle as it allows us to monitor their current abilities and compare these to their previous achievements to show any progress made and the next steps that need to be taken. From this point we can adjust our teaching to address the new targets that are set and work towards making progress and developing improved outcomes for each individual child in the class. Children should be informed of the assessment cycle and, wherever possible, work with the teacher to be involved in the target setting process to ensure that fair and appropriate targets are set. Using formative assessment strategies within lessons can be a useful method to obtain where each child thinks they are in their learning and also where they think they need to improve.

This evidence demonstrate my current attainment in regards to the importance of self and peer assessment. I used this model for Big Write sessions, Literacy lessons and, when appropriate, for some topic lessons. The criteria included on the ladders was differentiated for each ability group within the class (from children working on Year 4 objectives, to those working on Year 6 objectives). This ensured that the children were all aware of the specific elements they were aiming to include within their work and could assess themselves continuously throughout the lesson. Children would traffic light each criteria with either green, red or orange to signify their understanding/achievement. At the end of the lesson, the children would swap work and peer mark each others in the same way; they would check whether the self-assessments were accurate and write a positive comment in relation to the overall objective. I would then complete the ‘teacher’ column using the same method for the overall assessment of that piece of work.

I understand the potential impact that carefully monitoring children’s attainment and progress can have on future learning and outcomes as identifying current abilities allows work to be suitably differentiated and therefore allows each child to achieve their maximum potential in all areas of their learning. These ladders were very effective and could be used over multiple lessons for extended pieces of work as they ensured all children knew what they were aiming for in each piece. They could also see what areas they were confident in and where they needed to improve.

Peer evaluation

During Professional Practice 1b I implemented the use of ‘Two Stars and a Wish’ as a form of peer assessment. This required the children to provide each other with two things they liked about each others work and one area in which they could improve. The comments that were written were closely related to the learning objectives and any previous targets/challenges that they had been set.

The example shown was completed in regards to a newspaper article which the child had written. His peer identified that he had discussed who, what, where and why, which had been discussed as a class and was decided to be a vital aspect of newspaper articles. His next star was that some had been written like an article, referring to the tone that had been used throughout. His wish included adding speech marks around the quotes. By completing this formative assessment activity, the children are able to consolidate their own understanding of the learning objectives whilst also recognising which areas they need to improve in their own work.

Formative Assessment

Formative traffic light assessment system in children’s books.

Maths work on which the traffic lights are based.

I saw this formative assessment system in place in a school I recently had placement in. By having one of these for every topic in every child’s book it allows them to become familiar with each of their objectives and, along with feedback given verbally or through marking, lets them know exactly where they are in relation to achieving the objective. For this system to be successful, the child first marked their work with whichever colour they felt represented their capability in that particular area of work. The teacher then marked the work and made a decision as to whether they agreed with the child’s judgement. This is then marked on the assessment sheet. If further progress is made towards this objective it is noted in the B and C columns. I really liked this method of assessment as it keeps the child fully informed on their achievements and on what they need to do to reach the next stage in their learning. It also allows them to play an active role in the formative assessment process which will increase their motivation to learn.