Competency 5

Competency 5: To evaluate student progress in learning the subject content and mastering the related competencies.

FEATURES

Gathers information as students are engaged in a learning situation in order to identify their strengths and weaknesses and to review and adapt his or her teaching accordingly to help them progress.
Takes stock of the learning acquired by students in order to assess their mastery of the related competencies.
Designs or uses tools to evaluate student progress and mastery of competencies.
Communicates expected outcomes to students and parents and provides feedback on student progress and mastery of competencies using clear, simple language.
Works with the teaching team to determine the desired stages and rate of progression within the cycle concerned.

LEVEL OF MASTERY

By the end of his or her initial training, the student teacher should be able to:

Detect the strengths and weaknesses of the students in a learning situation;
Identify some of the adjustments required in his or her teaching on his or her own;
In cooperation with colleagues, design evaluation materials, interpret the work of students in terms of their mastery of the competencies, and develop tools for communicating with parents;
Inform the students of the results of a diagnostic evaluation process and inform parents and members of the teaching team of the corrective intervention strategy elements envisaged.

At one point in my placement, I noted that my teaching of yes/no question formation (using the auxiliaries "do" and "be") was ineffective through the low grades on a grammar comprehension test. Using the information from the evaluation, I re-taught question formation using a different technique, and through a different evaluation noted that the students were far more successful.

I also made rubrics with clear, objective expectations for students, such as a C3 rubric for a list of 10 things needed to survive on a deserted island.

I have also been able to get the student's input on evaluation— for example, through C1 peer evaluations based on my own generic C1 rubric. This gave me a full appreciation of which students's discussions were on topic, gave me input as to what students were doing when I was working with other groups, and the evaluations supplemented my own grading for them (which I would typically do while circulating using a clipboard, a class list, and the same criteria— see here for an example). Through the peer evaluations I noticed students giving one another feedback and reminders to participate, and I found it was a useful tool. for grading as well as encouraging more effective participation.

I believe I have achieved advanced mastery of this competency.