Assessment FOR Learning

Sharing assessment strategies that help students learn

AFL Online Resources

If you have an idea for a resource that should be added to this page let Scott Habeeb know and we'll add it.
  • Rubistar - make rubrics for project-based assessments
  • NCTM Article - a good formative assessment article from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

Groups

 

Welcome to AFL

This site has grown out of the City of Salem Schools' (VA) attempts to incorporate AFL practices into its schools. It is open for any educators who are interested in sharing strategies and ideas for using assessment data to maximize student learning. We hope you will join and become an active member. We learn best when we get to share with one another.

Take a moment to introduce yourself to the other members by replying to the Introductions forum discussion.

Members

  • Pam Elgin
  • Paola Brinkley
  • Art E Ford
  • Judy Fisher
  • John Hall
  • Pamela Coffey
  • Joan Vannorsdall
  • Kristyn Shepherd
  • Melanie E Smith

Blog Posts

Melanie E Smith

Helping First Graders with Metacognition

An important part of Assessment For Learning is helping students know "what they know" and "what they don't." For younger students (K-1), this is certainly a challenge. What follows is a nugget worth sharing from The Daily Five by Joan Moser and Gail Boushey...
As teachers are modeling a particular procedure or strategy, or after students have practiced a technique, teachers ask the students to gauge their understanding or performance in the following way: "Hold your fist close to your he… Continue

Posted by Melanie E Smith on November 18, 2009 at 3:16pm — 2 Comments

Scott Habeeb

Assessment FOR Learning - Examples of using rubrics

Rubrics are a great way to help students learn from their mistakes and to assess their own knowledge (#5 and #6 of the 6 Key AFL Ideas).

In the typical high school setting, rubrics are most commonly used by English teachers to show students how they will be grading essays/papers. Other teachers will sometimes use them to s… Continue

Posted by Scott Habeeb on November 12, 2009 at 4:36pm

Scott Habeeb

Guidelines for using Ning in a school setting

My school system - City of Salem Schools, VA - has undergone a lengthy process to determine what types of social networking should be available on our system's network. Until recently, all social networks were blocked by our filter.

After much discussion and exploration, it was decided that social networking would be open for all faculty members. Faculty members would be treated as professionals who are able to use social networking appropria… Continue

Posted by Scott Habeeb on November 11, 2009 at 4:49pm

Scott Habeeb

Assessment FOR Learning - Practical ideas for more frequent assessment to enhance learning

As a teacher, have you ever experienced anything similar to the following scenario:

You teach your course content over a period of time. The day before your big test you have a review activity of some sort. The review activity is a good one. It goes well, but during the activity you realize that your students don’t know the material all that well. Considering the number of days you spent covering it, you would have thought they would have known it better by now. The next day on the test the stu… Continue

Posted by Scott Habeeb on October 30, 2009 at 2:08pm — 4 Comments

Scott Habeeb

An AFL review strategy that can be used by any teacher in any content area

As I have come to comprehend better what Assessment FOR Learning truly means and how its principles can be applied, I find myself regularly thinking about how I would do things differently if I were still in the classroom. After recently observing Paola Brinkley, one of our school’s Spanish teachers, I realized yet another former practice of mine that I wou… Continue

Posted by Scott Habeeb on October 22, 2009 at 4:30pm — 3 Comments

Scott Habeeb

Downloading Videos from YouTube

This doesn't directly relate to Assessment FOR Learning, but it will be helpful to teachers trying to bring different resources into the classroom.

YouTube is full of wonderful video clips to use in a classroom. There are 2 problems with YouTube, though.

1. Some schools block it
2. Sometimes a slow network will make it difficult or impossible to watch a video

The solution is to download the videos to your computer (this can be done at home if your school blocks YouTube) and then either show t… Continue

Posted by Scott Habeeb on October 13, 2009 at 12:30pm — 3 Comments

Scott Habeeb

Does AFL lead to grade inflation?

A criticism of Assessment FOR Learning is that along with it comes pressure to make sure that students’ grades increase. In other words, some have been concernerd that AFL might lead to grade inflation.

I would hope that no school would ever encourage grade inflation while it encourages its teachers to try AFL techniques. I think that that the concern over grade inflation is probably first and foremost a misunderstanding about the purpose of AFL.

The primary goal of AFL is not grade inflation.… Continue

Posted by Scott Habeeb on October 12, 2009 at 9:00pm — 2 Comments

Scott Habeeb

How AFL could be applied to a PE class (based on principles that apply to all classes)

I would imagine that many Physical Education teachers must feel as though much of the professional development activities and workshops in schools do not apply to them. Typically, discussions of state standards and NCLB expectations dominate these discussions. While these apply to PE, they apply in a different manner than they do in a core area classroom. And let’s face it, PE is a very different world from the typical classroom. PE teachers are dealing with a completely different environment th… Continue

Posted by Scott Habeeb on October 9, 2009 at 8:00am — 2 Comments

Forum

Scott Habeeb

SHS Staff Development - 10/28/09 - GPS - An example of AFL 24 Replies

This Forum Discussion was started for Salem High School's Staff Development Faculty Meeting held on 10/28//09. For today's staff development activity, SHS faculty members will be analyzing an exam...

Tagged: shs, salem, high, school, GPS

Started by Scott Habeeb in General Discussion. Last reply by Scott Habeeb Oct 28.

Scott Habeeb

Introductions 21 Replies

Welcome to Assessment FOR Learning. Take a moment to let the other members know a little about you. Just reply to this Forum discussion with information about where you teach, your interest in AFL,...

Tagged: learning, introduction, assessment, AFL

Started by Scott Habeeb in Introductions. Last reply by John Hall Oct 28.

Scott Habeeb

SHS Staff Development - 9/23/09 - Grading v. Assessment 20 Replies

This Forum Discussion was started for Salem High School's Staff Development Faculty Meeting held on 9/23//09. Throughout this school year we will be looking at 6 ideas about AFL that stood out aft...

Tagged: learning, for, assessment, grading

Started by Scott Habeeb in General Discussion. Last reply by H. Alan Seibert Sep 28.

Scott Habeeb

SHS Staff Development - 9/3/09 - The relationship between assessment and grading 22 Replies

This Forum Discussion was started for Salem High School's September 3, 2009 inservice on AFL. Last year our school spent an entire year looking at AFL, at what it means, at how it can be applied t...

Tagged: discussion, group, inservice, grading, assessment

Started by Scott Habeeb in General Discussion. Last reply by Tomi Nave Sep 5.

Scott Habeeb

Elementary AFL Practices 4 Replies

What is an AFL practice/idea/strategy that you used successfully at the elementary level? Feel free to share multiple ideas. The more ideas shared here the more useful the forum will be.

Tagged: practice, elementary, idea, strategy, assessment

Started by Scott Habeeb in General Discussion. Last reply by Scott Habeeb Sep 4.

Scott Habeeb

Misconceptions of AFL 9 Replies

It's only natural for one's understanding of a concept or idea to grow with time. It's very typical to begin with misconceptions and to then outgrow those as you begin to better understand the conc...

Tagged: misconception, learning, for, assessment, AFL

Started by Scott Habeeb in General Discussion. Last reply by Melanie E Smith Sep 1.

Scott Habeeb

Secondary (middle and high) AFL Practices

What is an AFL practice/idea/strategy that you used successfully at the middle or high school level? Feel free to share multiple ideas. The more ideas shared here the more useful the forum will be.

Tagged: middle, school, high, practice, idea

Started by Scott Habeeb in General Discussion Aug 19.

 
 

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yesterday
on Friday
I love this! Thanks for sharing it and explaining why it works. My first graders can do this and begin to monitor their understanding as well as report it to me in a genuine way! I'll be interested to see if they spontaneously make the gesture eve...
on Thursday
on Thursday
Thanks for sharing this strategy, Melanie. I think (know) that it works well at many grade levels. BTW - metacognition is my favorite big word!
November 18
A blog post by Melanie E Smith was featured
An important part of Assessment For Learning is helping students know "what they know" and "what they don't." For younger students (K-1), this is certainly a challenge. What follows is a nugget worth sharing from The Daily Five by Joan Moser and G...
November 18
Melanie E Smith added a blog post
An important part of Assessment For Learning is helping students know "what they know" and "what they don't." For younger students (K-1), this is certainly a challenge. What follows is a nugget worth sharing from The Daily Five by Joan Moser and G...
November 18
November 18
 

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