Harnessing & Enhancing Assessments in Schools

29th April 2020

Name of Course/Programme/Seminar: Harnessing & Enhancing Assessments in Schools

Provider/Presenter: Stuart Kime

If I was to summarise the key things I took away from this Professional Development what would they be and why?

• There are 4 key principles that should always guide assessment; purpose, validity, reliability and value.
• I really liked the way Stuart explained how assessment, pedagogy and curriculum interrelate. He explained that assessment is only a tool for pedagogy which is guided by curriculum and that assessment is a tool used to understand the next steps when guiding a student through a curriculum and therefore can guide pedagogy.
• Tips for assessment while distance learning - ensure there is a slower pace and do fewer assessments however, do them better. This could be by varying the mode of assessment

How has this professional development challenged my thinking?

This presentation helped to remind me that testing and assessment are different, although testing can be a part of assessment. This is something I often get caught up in with my IG students. The tip of varying the mode of assessment has also made be consider the assessment I have been conducting with my IG students while distance learning. I have been completing the same style of tests that I would in class however, they are open book. I have actually found that some students have done worse in these open book tests than they do in a closed book test. I believe this is because students are focusing on certain key words to do with content and writing from their notes about that rather than reading the entire question properly. This has already made me think about how I can trial different methods of assessments with my students to see if I achieve better results.

What aspects of my practice would I consider changing as a result of this professional development and why?

His tip about ensuring a pragmatic approach spoke to me. He suggested that by revisiting content that was introduced earlier it can help students create more dependable and credible connections with their assessment. The example he gave is a teacher starting each class with 3 questions; 1 question on current content, 1 question on content from the last topic and 1 question from an old topic. This is definitely something I can introduce more in IG PE. Students quite often do well in end of topic tests. However, some students struggle when completing end of unit tests as there is more for them to remember. Normally this is not a strategy I bring in until Term 3 but is definitely something I could look at starting this term.

I am also going to trial different methods of assessment with my IG students while distance learning. Can I create a knowledge review that is more meaningful from a Quizizz or by getting students to create a video applying their knowledge rather than a test?

Fostering Engagement & Wellbeing while Teaching Remotely

22nd April 2020

Name of Course/Programme/Seminar: Fostering Engagement & Wellbeing while Teaching Remotely

Provider/Presenter: Dale Sidebottom

If I was to summarise the key things I took away from this Professional Development what would they be and why?

The PEGG strategy helps to increase student engagement by allowing students to feel a sense of fun and to feel connected to others outside of their bubble. Just like our Hauora the different dimensions of PEGG (Play, Exercise, Gratitude & Giving) are all equally as important. The PEGG strategy can be treated like a challenge with each of the different areas needing to be ticked off and completed each and every day. Once students have been able to complete a task for each of these they are encouraged to reflect on these before being able to "peg" themselves - they can literally have a physical peg to help remind them. This is also a strategy that students can then share with their family to increase household engagement. Then as pictured in my notes above we were given multiple different ways that we can help foster and engage students in each of the different aspects of PEGG.

How has this professional development challenged my thinking?

With the lack of class discussions and group work in my distance learning classes at the moment, how can I help students to feel more connected to school and increase their engagement and sense of fun?

What aspects of my practice would I consider changing as a result of this professional development and why?

I would look at introducing a small task at the beginning of a lesson. This can help to differentiate lessons and make them a bit different. This could also be a task used at the start of the lesson which I have typically been using as the 'wait time' to ensure all members were there and that I could do the roll. These activities could be ideas from the different areas of PEGG i.e. an exercise challenge one day, a gratitude task the next.

'Where to next?' Leveraging your new found digital skills in a post pandemic world

16th April 2020

Name of Course/Programme/Seminar: Where to next? Leveraging your new found digital skills in a post pandemic world

Provider/Presenter: Carl Condliffe

If I was to summarise the key things I took away from this Professional Development what would they be and why?

Overall the PD was looking at the issues and challenges we may have faced going into the lockdown, opportunities that may have presented themselves to us and where to next after the lockdown. Below are some of the key points I took from this morning's presentation:

• We are fortunate that King's took the week to prepare us for distance learning as many schools and teachers felt underprepared
• A huge opportunity that is given to us is that we can create student agency and autonomy as they are accountable for their own work/effort - can we transfer and continue this when we return to the classroom?
• Ensure the focus is on identifying issues and creating solutions, encouraging students to think critically, rather than rely on content

How has this professional development challenged my thinking?

This lockdown has presented us with many opportunities to enhance our practice. How can we ensure to transfer these skills when we return back to the classroom?

What aspects of my practice would I consider changing as a result of this professional development and why?

This year I proceeded to push blended learning to help create a more authentic learning environment for my IG PE students. As the IG curriculum has so much content I found classes were heavily based on learning new content rather than allowing learners to apply this, reinforcing their knowledge. I feel like this is something that I haven't done as much for my senior NCEA classes as we have more time in class for each unit of work. However, I have found that creating videos for my senior students particularly around breaking down of achievement criteria and assessments has been useful and is something that I would look to continue in future.