Sample AFL Growth Objectives - Created BY Educators FOR Educators

[Scott Habeeb]

This Forum Discussion began on 3/18/11 at the City of Salem Schools' Professional Development Day.  Teachers who attended the session on The Heart of AFL discussed the core/key concepts of Assessment FOR Learning.  They then worked together to create sample AFL professional growth objectives that they could use in their own classroom and/or that could be used by other teachers interested in incorporating more AFL strategies into their daily classroom practices.

 

While AFL activities can be isolated/specific lesson plans, AFL is most effective when it is woven into the fabric of the teacher's style and methods.  Therefore, the goal for these objectives is that they be ones that could be used on a regular - even daily - basis as opposed to being used with a specific unit of study.

 

Below are four key slides from the Heart of AFL breakout session.  The ideas in those slides should serve as the foundation for the growth objectives added to this forum. 

Want some good ideas for AFL activities/objectives?  Be sure to look through the blog posts on this site, but here is one post that has many different Practical Examples.

[Amy Stump]

During the 2011-2012 school year, I will:

1.  Start each unit with a pre-test in order to assess students prior knowledge on each SOL.

2.  Create a "study guide" sheet for the students to fill out as we go through each SOL -- "Yellow Sheet" -- and will also serve as a test review for each SOL, which can also be used at the end of the year for SOL review.

3.  In addition to daily do nows and daily quizzes, I will incorporate an end of class 5 question review assessment, using A,B,C,D flash cards.  To give students multiple choice questions on the main components of the days lesson - and visually asses their understanding of those questions to know what may need to be addressed in the next day's do now, or lesson.

[Gayle Jamison]

I use the TI Navigator most days to assess a "Do Now" question or two.  The Navigator shows the results with a bar graph that shows how many students put each answer. It works for multiple choice and short answer the best.  I then show this bar graph to the class and we discuss why certain wrong answers may have been entered and how to find the correct answer.  I haven't use the PRS, but I think they might do the same thing.

[John Bolte]

During the 2011-12 school year students will not only use do-now journal entries in response to a selected quotation or question but also write a follow up entry reflecting on how their opinion may have evolved after classroom activities.

[Pamela Carter]

During the 2011-2012 school year, I will

use assessments to identify areas in which students are weak.  On those questions that are often missed, I will have students rewrite the question and correct answer in their own words.  We will spend time discussing the difficulty students had with the question, whether it be content, vocabulary, or category.  We will discuss ways to meet the challenge of these types of questions in the future.

[Paola Brinkley]

During the 2011 – 2012 school year, I will:

1. Provide students with activities from where they can assess themselves on how prepared they are for a quiz or a test.  These activities include using whiteboards;  A,B,C,D, T(true), F(false), ?(don’t know) cards; and  color cards (to differentiate two concepts for example the verbs Ser and Estar – the verb  “to be”). By using these activities, I will have a better picture of how prepared students are and students can create a personalized study guides before a quiz or a test.
2. Provide my students with a Progress Checklist for vocabulary and verbs at the beginning of the unit of study.  This progress checklist will be used by my students to assess how well they know the vocabulary and verbs for that particular unit. 
3. Grade written assignment using a rubric and I will meet with my students individually to talk about their strengths and weaknesses on these assignments.  When IB students are submitting written work, I will use the rubric for grading and additionally, I will provide written and oral feedback regarding it. 

[Regina Meredith]

Druing the 2011-12 school year I will provide opportunities for students to evaluate their own beliefs and values.  I will do this through the use posters hanging on the wall that have thougtful sayings on them.  As I see students throughout the year, I will have them (anonymously) write their own comments regarding the saying.  These comments will be hung around the poster.

[Kim Martinez]

During the 2011-2012 year, I will using the 4 point scoring rubric to assist students in analyzing and understanding their proficiency level in the target language. As students complete assignments, they will use the rubric as a tool for identifying their current level of proficiency. Students will be able to use this as an opportunity to analyze their strenghts and weaknesses. After the student scores the assignment, they will conference with me regarding their self-assigned score and the score they would actually receive. The student will participate in additional practice driven by weak scoring topics/areas and be given the opportunity to improve those areas of the assignment before turning in the final product for a summative assessment.

[Tori Hayes]

During the 2011-2012 school year, I will give my Spanish II students a pre-test to determine what they learned and retained from Spanish I.  I will use their answers on the pre-test to guide my review at the beginning of the year and to prioritize grammar and vocabulary topics.  The pre-test will shape my differentiation of instruction to meet the needs of their varying backgrounds.  Additionally, the pre-test will allow students to identify areas of strength and weakness.

[Susan Gardner]

For the 2011-12 school year, I will continue to assess student progress through the use of white boards, color cards, and non-graded check-up quizzes prior to any formal assessment.  I will also implement a Vocabulary/Verb Progress Assessment where each student will assess their own preparedness prior to any quiz or test.

[Rachel Ann Pinkham Sailer]

During our unit on pantomime I assume the entry level is 0.  I will demonstrate mime walks, wall and rope.  I will then have each student perform these skills as part of a "escaping the box" pantomime.  They will perform this mime for the class.  I will talk the students through the exercise with comments such as "keep your hand flat," or "keep the rope parallel to the floor."  Once the student has successfully completed a walk, the wall and the rope, they will perform an individual mime with each of these elements.  

 

During our unit on storytelling, I will introduce the idea of variety in pitch; rate, quality, duration, and volume.  I will then have each student count to 10 with variety in pitch, then rate, etc.  Once they have successfully demonstrated variety in each of these, I will ask them to apply variety to a paragraph.  Once they have demonstrated the ability to do this, I will split them into 5 groups.  Each group will develop an improvisation showing variety in one (assigned) component.  Once they have successfully completed this, I will assign a 1-2 minute story for children where each of these components must have variety.  

 

Grading will be 10/10 for each introductory exercise once it is completed.  Grading will be up to 15 for the final assessment in mime and up to 25 for the final assessment in vocal variety.  

[Danyel Dawn Brugh]

During the 2011-2012 school year, I will increase student learning by doing practice assessment via multiple choice flash cards that will be located at each student's desk and will be used in conjunction with a powerpoint that will review our unit's concepts.

 

In addition, I will make these powerpoints available to students on my website so that they can refer to them at any point in the unit and can check their knowledge at home.

[Debbie Stratton]

During the 2011-12 school year, I will utilize exit slips in ECE I as a means of gathering feedback to assess student understanding of the foundational concepts taught early in the course (ie developmentally appropriate instruction, lesson planning, classroom management).  Peer tutoring strategies will also be utilized to connect students with different levels of understanding so that learning is maximized for everyone.