Tools for (Formative Assessment) When teachers know their students well, they can build strong connections that lead to better learning. Knowing students’ interests, strengths, and weaknesses help teachers tailor learning experiences for their students. Formative assessment involves the teacher collecting information about what students know, don’t know, and want to learn. This information takes many forms, including observations, exit tickets, discussions, games, and quizzes. These kinds of informal assessments can also help teachers get to know their students as learners and as people. There is a very wide variety of digital formative assessment tools that can be used for free (often charging for extra features). One of the biggest advantages to using these kinds of tools is that they give every student in a class a voice.
Class Quiz Games with Quizizz (an Alternative to Kahoot) I love hosting classroom quiz games. They can be great for formative assessment as can be a great way to help students review before a test. You’ve probably used (or at least heard of) the multiplayer gaming website Kahoot. There’s a lot to like about Kahoot: it’s free, works in web browers on tablets, computers, and smartphones, and you input your questions (or copy a pre-made quiz from their library). Quizizz is an alternative to Kahoot, and there’s also a lot for educators to like. Just like Kahoot, the teacher (or student host) chooses a quiz to begin. 5 Fantastic, Fast, Formative Assessment Tools I thought I could read my students' body language. I was wrong. As an experiment, I used Socrative when I taught binary numbers. What I learned forever changed my views on being a better teacher. Why Formative Assessment Makes Better Teachers Formative assessment is done as students are learning. Here's what happened in my classroom. "We've got this, it's easy," they said. I looked at the other students and asked, "Do you have this?" They nodded their heads furiously up and down in a "yes." My teacher instincts said that everyone knew it, but I decided to experiment. I was floored. I taught for another few minutes and gave them another problem. But the end result was not what you think. I am sold. Good teachers in every subject will adjust their teaching based upon what students know at each point. Formative Assessment Toolkit Learn the strengths and weaknesses of each tool. 1. Socrative can be used for quick quizzes and also on the fly, as I've already shared. 2. 3. 4. 5.